Non-profit Seeks to Reverse Foreclosure Trend

An effort to reverse the foreclosure trend in one north Charlotte neighborhood is getting underway. A non-profit based in Durham called Self Help is buying and re-habbing 25 homes in Peachtree Hills with the idea of selling them outright or renting them to people who can eventually take over the mortgages. Richard Payne, the project manager, says the first and at this time only Self Help home for sale already has an offer. "Because we really just put the first property on the market, I mean I'm surprised that we got an offer within two weeks given the current real estate market. So I'm excited, very excited," Payne said. Peachtree Hills was built five years ago and already nearly a quarter of the homes have been foreclosed on as lenders handed out risky loans and buyers took on more home than they could afford. This Saturday there will be an open house for three other completed Self Help homes that are soon to go on the market.