October 18, 2008 Mass. family manages to avoid financial free fall Play video

(John Moroney, NECN) - For families on a fixed income Keeping up a mortgage can become a burden. But one Massachusetts couple was able to avoid a financial free-fall.

Dorothy Prescod is much happier these days ... Now that she and her husband are able to pay the mortgage on their home of more than 40 years.

In 2006 ... The couple refinanced their 2-family in Somerville, Massachusetts. This month ... Their monthly payments were set to jump 500-dollars ... An increase they could not afford.

Enter Jennifer Jonassaint of Cambridge neighborhood apartment and housing services ... Who help the couple renegotiate their loan ... Saving them six hundred dollars a month.

The nation's economic crisis is making it more and more difficult for people to pay their mortgages ... Pushing the number of foreclosures up dramatically.

Attorney Gerry d'ambrosio said struggling homeowners should try and modify their mortgages, instead of walking away from their properties.

Dorothy prescod says she's always paid her bills on time ... So she's glad she and her husband where able to avoid foreclosure.