The couple were about to lose their home to a subprime lender that had bumped their interest rate up to just under 17 percent -- an increase that would have put their monthly mortgage payments at nearly $1,000.

Then last summer, a church elder urged them to take their case to Durham Regional Community Development Group, a nonprofit organization that offers housing and credit counseling to help people avoid bankruptcy and foreclosure.

On Thursday, the Garretts were the stars of a public education campaign sponsored by Durham's Neighborhood Improvement Services and Community Development departments and the Neighborhood Pride Alliance, a community task force.

Through a refinancing orchestrated by the Durham Regional Community Development Group, the Garretts no longer face foreclosure. They're now looking at a 30-year mortgage at a 5.5 percent interest rate for their $83,000 house. Monthly payments are $708 -- lower than their first mortgage.

The Garretts and others at the panel discussion hoped to let others facing foreclosure know there might be options to help them keep their roof over their head.

"The earlier you act, the more choices you have," said Martha McNair, a real estate broker, member of the Neighborhood Pride Alliance and co-chairwoman of the Saving Your Dream Planning Committee.

In Durham, according to RealtyTrac, a data collector in Irvine, Calif., more than 1,000 homes entered some stage of foreclosure during the first 10 months of 2007.

Foreclosure filings in the Triangle began rising in 2006 and increased 14.6 percent last year to a total of 7,388.

During the first three months of 2008, filings in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties were up 19 percent from the same period a year ago. In Wake, filings for the period totaled 1,294, a 26 percent increase.

Foreclosure filings don't always end with owners losing their homes. Some, such as the Garretts, work out arrangements with lenders.

Tony Garrett, a self-employed renovation and repairs man, was living high on the housing bubble like many others in the construction industry. Then the economy took a downturn.

"I could see the bubble getting ready to burst," Garrett said, "That trickled down into my business."

The couple, with their credit blemishes, had been happy to get a home loan on their Driver Street house in East Durham, even though it started at 11.9 percent.

"When I started out, I didn't even know that all I was paying was interest on the loan," Tony Garrett said, adding that he has paid $80,000 to date for a home valued at $83,000. "I wouldn't have started paying principal until the 11th year."

Glyndola Beasley, executive director of the Durham Regional Community Development Group, said her organization's review of loan documents shows that many borrowers are set up for failure from the start. Before the national mortgage crisis exposed problems, lenders were making loans to people whose incomes or credit records should have disqualified them.

"It kind of makes a man question his manhood," Garrett said. "They made it so I couldn't take care of my family. That's a slap in a man's face."

Foreclosures typically affect more than the one family, participants at Thursday's round-table discussion said.

"They're also devastating for the lenders involved, the neighborhoods, the community," said Ellen Reckhow, chairwoman of the Durham County commissioners. "By keeping families in their homes, economic losses can be minimized."

The Garretts plan to spread their wealth of knowledge to anybody who needs their help.

"This is stability for my family," Garrett said. "This is a home."

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