Jones aims to help Philly residents in danger of losing homes

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 Councilman Curtis Jones wants to help residents who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

Councilman Curtis Jones wants to help residents who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

A Philadelphia councilman wants to delve deeper into the process — and the effects — of mortgage foreclosure in the city. 

Councilman Curtis Jones said hearings are planned to review the process from the initial notification  to the help residents are offered once they are in danger of losing their homes.

“There are some gaping holes, one of which is in technical assistance provided to people who are filing  in the prothonotary’s office,” Jones said. “You can miss an  ‘i’ or a ‘t’ and be rejected. There should be people in there that assist just regular people to file those kinds of paperwork.”

Jones said he hopes to direct city funds to help people preserve their homes.

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“We need to put a little more money into technical assistance so those people who cannot afford an attorney, that are trying to file the paperwork in good faith, have someone to work with them,” he said.

Jones said he is concerned that despite reforms, some homes are being foreclosed on without all the necessary paperwork.

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