Chase opens two more centers to keep Tri-State area families in their homes

NEW YORK - Chase today marked the official opening of new homeownership centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn to help families struggling with their mortgage payments.

Chase now has five centers in the Tri-State area providing face-to-face assistance to distressed borrowers who have a loan serviced by Chase.

The Chase Homeownership Centers in the Tri-State area are:
Bronx 1480 East Avenue
(718) 678-8880
Brooklyn 4 Chase Metrotech Center
(718) 242-2500
Flushing 176-60 Union Turnpike, Suite 115
(718) 286-5190
Jersey City, NJ 575 Washington Blvd., 14th Floor
(201) 595-7355
Paramus, NJ 115 West Century Road, Suite 135
(201) 225-3980

The Jersey City center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and by appointment on Wednesday until 8 p.m. All other centers are open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Customers who are late on mortgages from Chase, Washington Mutual or EMC may call the nearest homeownership center listed above to make an appointment with an advisor.

Customers may call (866) 550-5705 if they:

* Are current with payments but face financial hardship, which may lead to default
* Would like more information

The company opened 37 centers around the country since 2009, and plans to open 14 more by this spring.

“We created these local Homeownership Centers as a place for our borrowers to sit down and discuss their situation face-to-face with trained loan advisors in these challenging times,” said David Schneider, head of mortgage servicing at Chase. “They are part of a wide-ranging initiative to help families stay in their homes whenever possible.”

The centers feature:

Trained advisors. A team of homeownership advisors will assist customers whose circumstances have changed and are no longer able to make their scheduled monthly payment, who want to avoid foreclosure and stay in their home. The trained advisors will evaluate their finances, review possible workout options and answer any questions.

Scheduled appointments. To reduce wait time, customers are encouraged to set up an appointment in advance. They should bring documentation, including recent W-2s and tax forms, recent pay stubs and bank statements and monthly expense documentation. Also, they should bring any information, such as a hardship letter, that will help explain their current financial challenges.

A track record of helping. The advisors reflect Chase’s commitment to helping families sustain homeownership over the long term. In 2009, Chase added nearly 6,000 employees to help delinquent homeowners. Through its own initiatives and by participating in Obama administration programs, Chase offered nearly 600,000 mortgage modifications for more than $100 billion in loans to struggling homeowners in 2009.

More information is also available at www.chase.com/myhome.

About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which operates more than 5,100 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationally under the Chase and WaMu brands, including more than 1,000 branches and 3,150 ATMs in the Tri-State area. Chase has 146 million credit cards issued and serves consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs and mortgage offices as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com