HELPING HOMEOWNERS KEEP THEIR HOMES

 

BECAUSE WE ALL NEED A HELPING HAND!

In these times, we all know someone who is in distress for various reasons: job loss or loss of income, family sickness, high interest mortgages that are resetting or are about to reset. While most people are not comfortable discussing their financial hardships, here is some information that I believe might help someone you know.

CURRENT PROGRAM HIGHLIGTHS:
The federal government has allocated funding to help pay the mortgages of qualified homeowners who are unemployed or underemployed through no fault of their own. Troubled homeowners throughout California who want to apply for HHF financial assistance will be able to do so via this website listed below. If you are in other States, there will be programs available to you, as these are federally funded programs.

Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program (UMA)
Mortgage assistance of up to $3,000 per month for unemployed homeowners, who are collecting or approved to receive unemployment benefits from the State of California’s Employment Development Department.

Mortgage Loan Reinstatement Payment (MLRP) Program
For eligible homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.
Funding of up to $25,000 to help qualified homeowners catch up on their mortgage payments

For additional information (including detailed eligibility criteria) and/or to apply for these programs, visit the HHF website at http://keepyourhomecalifornia.org/programs/

While NOT all homeowners may qualify for this program, it would not hurt to navigate through the above website to explore all the available options before being forced to a short sale or a foreclosure.

In the event the above programs are not helpful, a short sale is a better option than a foreclosure; as the foreclosure is a harder hit to one’s credit worthiness. In addition, there are other government initiatives that currently make short sales much easier and attractive to homeowners. Another viable option for upside down homeowners is another goverment initiative that allows home owners to refinance their home without an appraisal, this is the HARP program.

Because of my extensive experience with distress properties, I keep up with the current legislation that helps homeownership in the challenging CA housing markets.