Homeowners Titus helped featured in new ad

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., kicked off the televised portion of her re-election campaign Monday with an ad featuring people she's helped stay in their homes despite job losses and mortgage woes.

Titus is locked in a tight race against former state Sen. Joe Heck, a Republican, who is seeking to use the lousy economy against her in the campaign.

The new ad features residents of Congressional District Three who called Titus' office for help negotiating changes to their mortgages.

Homeowners Cate and Joe Costanzo are among those in the ad and attended an event announcing the launch at Titus' campaign headquarters.

Both lost their jobs during the recession and drained their savings, withdrew money from retirement accounts and ran up credit card bills to stay afloat and keep the home they've lived in since 2001, Cate Costanzo said.

But they had a hard time getting any help from their bank when it came to negotiating a lower mortgage payment.

"I did everything I could to find work," Cate Costanzo said. "I was told because we didn't have jobs we didn't qualify."

Joe Costanzo said he couldn't even get the loan servicing company to give out basic information to facilitate the process.

"We didn't even know who had the note on our house," he said.

The couple called Titus whose office has made networking between homeowners and banks a priority.

According to Titus, banks that have ignored constituents respond more quickly when people from her office call.

"The ball just started rolling," said Cate Costanzo of her renegotiation once Titus' office stepped in to help.