Michigan Goes Hollywood to Help Homeowners

Lights! Camera! Action!

No it’s not one of the big commercial television networks spending millions of dollars on some game show with a stupid name. Rather, it’s more of a “reality” television show.

The State of Michigan is hitting the airwaves with a cable television show of its own called “House Michigan” aimed at promoting homeownership and everything that entails.

Since January 2006 Michigan has ranked in RealtyTrac’s top 10 states with the greatest foreclosure activity in the nation, most of that time maintaining a position in the top five.

In June 2008 — the most recent monthly ranking available from RealtyTrac — the Great Lakes State ranked fifth nationally, reporting 12,025 properties with foreclosure filings, accounting for 5 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure filings for the month. With one in every 375 Michigan households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — 1.3 times the national average — the state’s foreclosure rate ranked fifth highest among the 50 states.

With all these distressed homeowners getting into financial trouble, combined with layoffs from the auto industry, it’s understandable that the state government may want to do something to promote homeownership and to educate its citizens about the details of what owning a home really means from a practical standpoint.

In a press release distributed by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the goal of the show is to provide programming that will give “realistic advice to improve the quality of life for everyone and lead to vibrant cities and neighborhoods across the state.”

Everything from affordable housing and refinancing a mortgage, to avoiding foreclosures and where to go for help with homelessness and domestic violence will be topics open for discussion on the program.

With unemployment well above the national average, and average home prices continuing to deflate statewide, any information that can help struggling homeowners deal with their situation and become more informed borrowers in the process can only help in these times of financial turmoil that are affecting so many people around the country.