By Martine Louis
Reporter Staff

Single mother Tary Kincade and her four children no longer have a home to call their own. After months of struggling to pay her $3,000 a month mortgage, the 43-year-old hairstylist was forced to give up the home in Hyde Park that she had owned for just 11 short months.

"It's one of the worst situations a person, especially a family, could be in," she said. "Living from to check to check and having to decide which bill to pay this month&emdash;the water, the electricity, or the mortgage. Struggling to maintain is one thing, but when you start to fall behind and you know the end is fast approaching, there is nothing you can do about it. As a parent it is one of the greatest disappointments&emdash;to feel like you have failed your children." Kincade and her family are now living with friends until they can find a new place to call home.

This is a crisis many families are enduring throughout Boston, but it is especially acute in the communities of Mattapan, Hyde Park, Dorchester, Roxbury, and East Boston; these are the city's top five neighborhoods for foreclosure, where homeowners are paying interest rates on their mortgages from 34.6 percent to over 50 percent. Meanwhile, homeowners in neighborhoods like the Back Bay and Charlestown pay rates as low as 4.7 percent to 6.1 percent annually.

"It is not by chance that this is taking place in certain neighborhoods," said Penelope Pelton, a foreclosure prevention counselor at Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation. "Brokers and lenders have concentrated on poorer neighborhoods, where people are vulnerable. This is predatory lending&emdash;when clients are targeted based on certain aspects such as location, income, and race."

The sub-prime lending market has played a major role in the recent rash of foreclosures. It has become one of the primary sources within the real estate industry of giving loans at a more affordable rate -- at least for a fixed amount of time, after which the interest rates begin to increase and become less affordable.

Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation is one of the five non-profit housing corporations Mayor Thomas Menino and the Department of Neighborhood Development will fund in an effort to help families in danger of losing their homes. "Our job here is to provide current and future home owners with options," said Sandra Clarke, director of homeowner services for Nuestra. "We work with lenders to negotiate payment options such as forbearance or refinancing, but it depends on what stage in your dilemma you reach out to us. If you already have a foreclosure date then we most likely cannot help you. If you are just starting to fall behind it is important that you seek help immediately. The longer you wait the more limited your options become."

Clark says the most important step a prospective homebuyer can take is to attend a homebuyer class.

"This teaches you what to be aware of and what should raise red flags if you are potentially entering into a contract not suitable for you," said Clarke. "It is also essential that you trust the people who are working with you when you begin the process of buying your home. You must always have a good attorney because while everyone else may be looking after their commission&emdash;your attorney will be looking after you."