City Councilman Kevin Hyde is raising $50,000 to launch the next step of the Stay Home-Jacksonville foreclosure prevention initiative. The program, approved by the City Council in April, is a result of the foreclosure summits Hyde organized this year for nonprofit groups, attorneys and judges. They determined that marketing and information were key to helping prevent Jacksonville from becoming, as Forbes magazine predicted it might, the foreclosure capitol of the country. By mid-July, Hyde wants to begin mailing information packets to every local home-owner who receives a notice of foreclosure in the mail-currently about 4,000 per month-containing information about various agencies and organizations that may help.
