Jill torrance / Arizona Daily Star

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Hundreds of Southern Arizonans facing foreclosure and hoping to stay in their homes lined up Wednesday to meet with their lenders and modify their mortgages or craft workout plans.

On a day when national figures showed the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure to be soaring, the scene at Marriott University Park, where homeowners were meeting with lenders at a home preservation workshop, was startling as hundreds of people crowded the hotel's banquet hall to find answers and help.

Pima County saw the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure jump by 12 percent compared with this time last year, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing service that just released updated figures. The report shows 975 homes in Pima County were in some stage of foreclosure last month. Last year, that number was 867 for September.

The workshop, put on by the HOPE NOW Alliance, a cooperative initiative between the U.S. government and lenders, was the first time troubled homeowners here could meet face-to-face with their lenders, and many said they saw it as their last chance to find some kind of relief.

One person who came away in better shape was Veronica Contreras, who said she was struggling to make payments on two mortgages after her husband, a machinist, recently lost his job.

"We are not delinquent, yet, but it's not good," Contreras said.

She and her husband bought their home about two years ago for $132,000 and with "a little money down," Contreras said. Their two mortgages with Citibank were adjustable with interest rates of about 13 percent. That meant payments of about $1,300 a month, she said.

Contreras said she tried to refinance over the phone but couldn't get anywhere because she is now upside down on her home. To make ends meet, Contreras has been working two jobs, at a credit union and a restaurant.

But after meeting with a lender and then a non-profit, Contreras was able to modify her loans to an interest rate of about 6 percent.

"They are willing to work with me," she said.

That's the kind of outcome Larry Gilmore, deputy director of the HOPE NOW Alliance lenders, said he wants to see come out of these types of workshops. His group has held 23 such workshops across the country and will be in Phoenix today.

He thought as many as 1,000 or so people might attend Wednesday's workshop, but he also said there are a number of vulnerable homeowners his group has had a hard time reaching because they've simply given up on finding a way to stay in their homes.

But those who do attend the workshops often can work toward one of a handful of resolutions, Gilmore said. Some, like Contreras, can modify their interest rates. Others might extend their loans to 40 years and still others might get a forbearance to buy themselves time to get back on track.

"These events have been extremely efficient," Gilmore said.

When the workshop started at 2 p.m., there was a flood of people lining up to meet with lenders and financial counselors. Volunteers ushered them into a crowded banquet hall, where homeowners sat elbow to elbow as they talked with their respective lenders.

"We really are just staring at the tip of the iceberg," said Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías. "What you see here are the people who are really courageous and came out. It's really hard to do that and keep your dignity intact."

Arlene Cates, 57, said she still doesn't know what she is going to do to save her home, but just getting some basic information was a relief.

Since her husband, Charles Dennis, died this summer, Cates said she has been unable to keep up with her payments of $773.62 a month for her home in Arivaca that she and her husband bought in 2005 for retirement.

Her husband was a career military man, and when he died she said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs cut off his pension, something she is fighting, in part, so she can stay in her home.

"I went and bought furniture and everything for the home," she said.

But without the pension she has almost no income, and while she is disputing the VA's decision to cut off the pension, she has fallen two months behind in payments.

"It's put me in a really bad situation with the mortgage company," she said.

She met with her lender, Wells Fargo, and was able to work out a forbearance. But Cates said she is bracing for the worst.

"I might be able to make it, and if I can't, I might have to pack it."

1Don't ignore the problem, as it will only get worse.

2 Contact your lender as soon as possible to work out a change.

3Know your foreclosure- prevention options.

4Prioritize your spending to see what you can cut.

5Contact a non-profit housing counselor through Arizona Department of Housing.

Source: Arizona Department of Housing