A unique motivational program designed to help Americans avoid losing their home to foreclosure or a mortgage scam.

A Muppet family copes with uncertain economic times. Elmo and his friends offer advice and hope.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says unemployment and loan modification programs are factors for rise in borrowers with good credit late on mortgages

A study by Cuyahoga County's Foreclosure Prevention Program found that Ohio ranks near the bottom of those states finding help from the federal HAMP.

When the Obama administration launched the "Making Home Affordable" program last March, it said the program would help as many as nine million homeowners stay in their homes. At this point, it has only helped about 650-thousand--and for most of them, the help is temporary and may end in a matter of months. To make matters worse, it seems to be having only a marginal impact in Ohio. On the Next Sound of Ideas, why the foreclosure avoidance program doesn't seem to be helping. Wednesday morning at 9 on 90.3.

Dee Perry shares an archived interview and performance with Ohio blues guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer - Jorma Kaukonen - prior to his appearance for the Kent State Folk Festival. Plus we attempt to escape The Tyranny of Email with award-winning writer and book critic John Freeman before his booksigning tomorrow night at Barnes and Noble Woodmere. And local photographer Donald Black discusses his recent art exhibit For Closure, which focuses on the local foreclosure crisis and partners him with poets and writers from The Lit.

Clients in a New York salon, from well-to-do bankers to struggling actors, discuss the recession.

Examine the reasons behind the crash, if it was predictable and its impact on the Great Depression.

Examines causes of the economic crisis and critical moments when it might have gone differently.

An encore presentation of a show in which Mr. Feagler dealt with the foreclosure crisis as it affects greater Cleveland.

Bribery charges cast a cloud over the Cuyahoga County Auditor’s office. The Governor has to hedge his bets on slot machines. And the President loses popular support for the war in Afghanistan.

90.3’s The Sound of Ideas examined the struggles of the suburban middle class, and where people are turning for help.

The worst downturn since the 30's has brought tremendous pressure on Ohio’s social service agencies. The latest data shows the pain has clearly spread to suburbia. The same middle class people who supported charities are now asking them for help to put food on the table and pay for other basics. Requests for help with utility bills have more than doubled. How are those agencies keeping up? And how will the state continue to fund unemployment benefits? Join Regina Brett as she explores the needs of the middle class in this special "Help Wanted" edition of the Sound of Ideas.

A Muppet family copes with uncertain economic times. Elmo and his friends offer advice and hope.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials filed a massive indictment charging 60 defendants with fraudulently flipping 453 houses.

Chronicles the Bear Stearns deal, the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the $700 billion bailout.

Some loan servicers are letting borrowers facing foreclosure pay as little at 10cents on the dollar to buy their home .

A CSU study says the median price of Cleveland houses not in foreclosure has dropped. On the east side, the drop is dramatic.

Northeast Ohioans had mixed reactions to an event designed to fast-track mortgage modifications.

Banking Committee senators asked federal officials and bank executives why the government can't stop waves of foreclosures in Cleveland.

NE Ohio borrowers in trouble have a wealth of choices to go to for help with their mortgage. We check them out.

A Chesterland, Ohio paralegal firm, Performing Investments Corp, spends hours on the phone daily trying to negotiate for troubled borrowers

Despite billions given to banks to ease credit and a new federal program to help homeowners in trouble, little help is actually occuring.

A Boston foreclosure prevention group is bringing a mortgage restructuring fair to Cleveland.

The foreclosure crisis. What steps are being taken in greater Cleveland to combat the fallout and is there hope for a turnaround?

We make sense of the complicated process of getting and appealing your home's value.

Homeowners in parts of NE Ohio have begun receiving re-valuation notices on their houses, and not surprisingly, most values are being revised downward. Some homeowners may argue the new value isn't actually low enough. Understanding those assesments and challenging them can be a complicated process. And in almost every case, the potential individual property taxes savings comes at a cost to the community. Wednesday morning at 9, we'll talk about how, why and whether to negotiate a lower value for your house and what lower home values mean for our cities.

It’s well known that Cleveland has been among the hardest-hit cities in the nation by the subprime mortgage debacle but now an author says the country’s current economic crisis, the worldwide recession actually originated here. Alyssa Katz suggests that once the ball really got rolling a meltdown was inevitable. It was a storm brewing for years and, she says, the climate for it to break was just right in Cleveland. Our Lot...How Real Estate Came to Own Us Tuesday morning at 9:00 on 90.3.

Borrowers trying to save their house should double check references if hiring a company to help negotiate a loan modification.

A Tremont artist will collect the prestigious Cleveland Arts Prize for emerging artist today.

Cleveland's Housing Court Judge has ruled the Wells Fargo must address housing code violations on its properties if it wants to sell them off.

Cuyahoga County's biggest mortgage fraud case is getting bigger with more indictments announced against sellers and their companies.

Federal Reserve Governor

Financial giant Wells Fargo is in Cleveland Municipal Housing Court to overturn a request to stop it from selling off delapidated bank-owned houses.

Phone workers at United Way's First Call for Help Hotline say a growing number of callers are behind on their mortgages because they've been laid off.

Lenders are looking for new ways to unload bank-owned houses.

Economist weighs in on what results mean for Key, Fifth Third and PNC.

How to get lenders with too many foreclosed houses to talk with cities and nonprofits with new federal housing dollars? One company says it has a way.

Key Corp, Huntington Post losses

United Way 211

United Way's 211/First Call For Help is a free and confidential information service ready to direct you to the health and human services you need in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Medina Counties.

Just dial 2-1-1. Professional staff are available to help you 24 hours a day, every day.

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Save the Dream

The American dream of home ownership is disappearing during these times of crisis. In Ohio, rising unemployment, loss of business, and a bleak economic outlook also threaten that dream.

Help is available. Save the Dream provides information and highlights programs that Ohioians can use to help save the dream of owning a home.

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Upcoming Events

CSU Land Bank Forum

A public forum on the new Cuyahoga County land bank will take place Thursday, November 19 from 8:30 am until Noon at Cleveland State’s University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs. The session is free. Call 216-523-7330 to register.

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Funding

Funding for the coverage of economy and jobs topics comes from The Cleveland Foundation; The George Gund Foundation; and The Nord Family Foundation.