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ForecloseByowner.com Launches New Website To Help Homeowners Fight Foreclosure Through Social NetworkingLos Angeles, CA, Sep 21, 2011 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- The US housing market is in the midst of an unrelenting foreclosure crisis. Millions of families have lost their homes to foreclosure and millions more are expected to lose their homes in the next few years. With home values plummeting and unemployment at record levels, homeowners are drowning under the weight of their mortgages and debt obligations. According to analyst Laurie Goodman from Amherst Securities Group, roughly 10.4 million mortgages, or one in five outstanding home loans in the U.S., will likely default if Congress refuses to implement new policy changes to prevent foreclosures. Winston Hardson, CEO of ForecloseByowner.com, is a Realtor and holds the Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource certification (SFR) from the National Association of Realtors, started the new service in response to the growing foreclosure crisis. ForecloseByowner.com is designed to increases homeowners overall understanding of the foreclosure process (including procedures and strategies), and provide specific foreclosure defense strategies. Utilizing social networking technology, members can connect with and receive timely foreclosure prevention tips from people and professionals that they may not have had the opportunity to before--including other homeowners, real estate agents, foreclosure attorneys, and non-profit counselors. The strength of the ForecloseByowner network centers around user profile information and user generated content. Homeowner profile information includes but not limited to: first name, state of residence, name of lender/servicer, and mortgage default status. For professionals and companies, profiles include name, license number, website address, and employment information. To ensure privacy, members have the option to control whether their information is visible to their connections, their broader network of second and third degree connections, or the entire ForecloseByowner.com network. Upon initial sign up, network algorithms will automatically recommend to new members other members, news, groups, videos and articles. The algorithms behind the recommendation engine are based on user relevance, and highlight content and people based upon profile information (state, lender, foreclosure status) similar to Facebook. "There are hundreds of foreclosure defense blogs and message boards online, but those that actually offer relevant, timely and information sharing tools built around community are non-existent," says Winston Hardson. "Through ForecloseByowner.com, members can for example, join a loan modification group and share with other trusted members their loan modification documents they received from the lender and receive real time feedback. No other website offers these features for property owners facing foreclosure." Key features include: Questions & Answers: Members can post questions and get answers built around a ratings system. Homeowners can receive customized information they need - on hot topics like deed in lieu of foreclosure and bankruptcy - to make better and more confident decisions, while providing a platform for real estate professionals to showcase their expertise and engage with property owners. Groups: Members can create and manage their own groups on the site. Each group includes a built-in discussion forum, allowing group members to discuss topics of interest. Groups can also host their own events and upload documents for viewing by other group members. Documents: Users can upload and display documents. Additionally, they can share, print, download documents, and comment on them. Features like the iPaper document viewer allow users to interactively read and comment on documents. Document creators can set document viewing and uploading permissions to be made available to trusted connections only and/or with the public. Recommendation Engine: Users can recommend various community-generated content (articles, groups, videos, blogs, events, links) to friends to users. Users can also suggest content and friends to their friends. The algorithms behind the recommendation engine are based on user relevance. Suggestions are shown to users in widgets, pop-ups, and users can also receive recommendations from their friends. About ForecloseByowner.com ForecloseByowner.com is the only social networking website dedicated to empowering homeowners in foreclosure. Users are encouraged to create profiles, form groups, post videos, find and offer support, download documents, share events, and join conversations with other members. ForecloseByowner offers a free Question and Answer system, where homeowners can ask questions and receive answers from rated real estate professionals. For more information, visit http://www.foreclosebyowner.com. ### Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/foreclosures/loan-modification/prweb3488064.htm PRWeb.com |