The increase in delinquencies and foreclosure actions in the state came as no surprise to Joe Cox, a community organizer for housing advocate group Maryland ACORN.  “Mortgage servicers or lenders have been avoiding meaningful loan modification at every step of the way,” Cox said yesterday.

Banks have said they are taking steps such as Citigroup’s plan, announced earlier this week, to lower mortgage payments for some borrowers to an average $500 a month for three months if they lost their job. But ACORN contends banks are just offering short-term solutions, such as tacking a missed mortgage payment to the end of the loan, that do little to help borrowers.  Many borrowers come to ACORN fearing they will fall behind on payments but say their lender won’t consider modifying the loan unless they become delinquent, Cox said. The group says it wants to see loan modifications such as lowering the interest rate or monthly payments by extending the term of the loan.  “The message people are getting is ‘Don’t try to work this out ahead of time. Wait until you have a problem,’” Cox said.