CCCS of Greater Atlanta Expanding to Aid Struggling Homeowners

Once the office opens, the agency will immediately begin providing housing counseling from offices at Interstate North Office Park, near the intersection of I-75 and I-285 inCobb County. It will be the 44-year-old nonprofit's largest around-the-clock counseling operation. The agency is now hiring many of the 80 housing counselors and 20 phone contact staff who will work at the 26,000-square-foot facility.

"We needed a location that offered both a talented pool of workers and easy access for our employees to get to their jobs," said Suzanne Boas, president of CCCS. "Interstate North offers our employees great access by car and also has convenient mass transit options."

The new operation will increase the agency's overall counseling staff to 245. These counselors are the frontline support for the agency's mission to help people nationwide struggling to avoid foreclosure. The agency estimates its housing counselors will conduct more than 60,000 counseling sessions in 2008, offering expertise in foreclosure prevention, reverse mortgages and resolving credit card debt for homeowners.

CCCS ofGreater Atlanta recently selected Interstate North after reviewing several potential office locations along I-75 north ofAtlanta. The agency is headquartered in downtownAtlanta and also operates a large counseling center inDuluth to provide telephone and Internet counseling across the country to people worried about debt.

The agency's expansion toCobb County is made possible by a $2 million grant earlier this year from the Ford Foundation. In addition to providing resources for 80 new housing counselors, the grant also allows CCCS to expand the rollout of a new software platform that lets credit counselors eliminate lengthy delays faced by homeowners in urgent need of modified mortgages.

Housing counselors at the Interstate North facility will join the agency's other foreclosure prevention specialists answering calls from the HOPE hotline, a national toll-free service offered by the Housing Preservation Foundation. Any person inthe United States who needs free counseling to avoid foreclosure can call the number 24 hours day. The telephone number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

"Preserving homeownership is one of our agency's highest priorities, and counselors at this new facility will help save the homes of many Americans," Boas said.

CCCS ofGreater Atlanta serves clients in all 50 states and has 18 offices in four states. It is the headquarters for the CredAbility Network, a family of agencies serving consumers in northGeorgia, southFlorida, middle Mississippi and eastTennessee as well as nationally via telephone and Internet. CCCS is accredited by the Council on Accreditation and is a member of the Better Business Bureau and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). Governed by a community-based board of directors, CCCS is funded by creditors, clients, contributors and grants from foundations, businesses and government agencies. Service is available at offices throughout metro-Atlanta and northGeorgia in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. CCCS offers around the-clock help by phone at 1-800-251-CCCS or at its Web sites, http://www.cccsinc.org and cccsenespanol.org.

SOURCE Consumer Credit Counseling Service ofGreater Atlanta

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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

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