Solutions for a home foreclosure

Thousands of people nationwide are working to make payments in the tough economy so they don't lose their properties. New numbers from RealtyTrac released this week show foreclosures up 25% in October compared to last year.

Here in the Houston-area realtors say things aren't as bad, but homeowners at risk don't want to become another statistic.

For many it is tough to talk about losing a job, maybe even a home.

"One out of two borrowers who go into foreclosure don't get any assistance at all," said Larry Gilmore of HOPE NOW Alliance.

In our struggling economy, hundreds of people showed up for a foreclosure workshop in southwest Houston on Saturday. It was an event designed to link borrowers with lenders and to talk about problems making payments. Ultimately it was all to keep people from losing their homes.

"In Houston you are experiencing price depreciation, but it is not as significant as other markets across the country," Gilmore said. "Unemployment isn't has significant as markets across the country, but you still have challenges."

The HOPE NOW Alliance provides this service as a way to get financial counseling and a chance to meet with the lender.

"In many cases, borrowers don't realize there's assistance out there," Gilmore said. "So our job is to really increase hope, and increase communication with those borrowers."

"It's hard to just walk into a bank and say, 'Hey, I need a home loan to fit my budget at this time being that I only have just one income,'" homeowner Iris Herbert said.

Herbert is here because, for now, she does need help, at least until she can get back to helping herself.

"Next step for me is to find employment," she told us.

This was just a one-day event, but you can still get free counseling through the HOPE NOW Alliance.