Q&A: Jodi Gelerter, president of the Pikes Peak Foreclosure Prevention Partnership

Jodi Gelerter has been president of the Pikes Peak Foreclosure Prevention Partnership since January, but says she’s been worried about the plight of consumers for years.

From working with the elderly as an insurance agent, to spending time with a tax preparation service, to learning about mortgages from a friend in the loan origination industry, Gelerter said she too often has seen situations in which seniors, home buyers and others don’t always understand what they’re buying, what they need or the right questions to ask, she said.

She said she’s seen homeowners with declining incomes or big credit card bills who were approved for adjustable-rate mortgages or other so-called designer loans without understanding how such products worked.  

“It troubled me,” Gelerter said. “These people were not being given tools to succeed. I feel like they were being set up for failure and being given a Band-Aid and not getting to the root of the problem, which is to help a person make corrections on their financial situation and sometimes make hard, tough decisions on how to move forward.”

In 2006, Gelerter began volunteering for the Pikes Peak Foreclosure Prevention Partnership, a non-profit organization that has offered a hotline and free counseling services in the Colorado Springs area since 1988. This year, Gelerter agreed to take over as president when longtime partnership head Marian Grier retired.
 “We can’t help everybody save their homes,” she said, “but sometimes just being there to answer questions and support people and encourage people, they appreciate that. ”

Gelerter, 45, has lived in the Springs since 1998. She received an associate’s degree from Pikes Peak Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Franklin University in Ohio.

Question: Local foreclosure filings are likely to set a third consecutive record this year. How would you characterize the local problem?

Answer:  We are receiving an increase in calls from homeowners that have suffered a loss of income in their businesses and those that have lost jobs for various reasons, including layoffs and medical issues. We are also seeing a large number of tenants renting homes that are now in foreclosure.

Q: Based on your experience, what’s the biggest reason for the area’s foreclosure problem?

A:  There are many contributing factors, but the biggest reason I see ... is the lack of adequate income to support and sustain mortgage payments. People cannot qualify or successfully maintain any loan modification ... without adequate income, not only for their mortgage payment, but to cover other expenses.

Q: We’ve heard a lot about federal government programs to help homeowners. Have they worked?

A: Federal government programs, such as Making Home Affordable, are helping some homeowners, but once again, there are criteria that must be met and unfortunately, not every homeowner will fit the mold. We are not seeing as many people helped as we would like.

Most of the homeowners we have worked with that have qualified for the program are in a three-month trial period and have not received the actual modification. The program was announced in March and is progressing, but we have yet to see evidence of clear results.

Q. What advice do you give homeowners facing a foreclosure problem?

A:   Be pro-active and communicate with their lender. This can be challenging and even frustrating but it is important to stay in communication as you work toward an amicable resolution.  A homeowner has to be an active participant providing information and documentation.

Q: What’s the role of the Pikes Peak Foreclosure Prevention Partnership?

A.   (It) serves as a non-profit, housing counseling agency in our community with training and experience to provide homeowners with the knowledge, tools and support they need to understand and work through the process more effectively. We are partners of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline and we are working to build capacity to serve more families.

Q. What changes are you considering at the partnership?

A. We recently transitioned from volunteer to a staffed model and are working to secure funding to hire English and Spanish speaking housing counselors.  Our team will be trained and certified to meet the national industry standard for housing counseling and we will offer additional services in the near future. We will be operating under the name Pikes Peak Housing Services and look forward to partnering with other organizations in the community.
­—
Questions and answers may be edited for space and clarity.