A city in Minnesota is making the extra effort to ensure its homeowners stay in their houses. A partnership between Duluth and Lutheran Social Service is taking a more personable approach to prevent home foreclosures, according to Northland News Center:

"It's really important that people remember that even with foreclosure rates going down, the impact on individual families who are facing foreclosure is really the same as it's always been," Dan Williams, a Financial Counselor with LSS said.

In Duluth, any homeowner who receives a pre-foreclosure notice will also receive a letter, signed personally by Duluth Mayor Don Ness and Williams encouraging them to contact a foreclosure prevention counselor.