Helping Unemployed Homeowners 

Unemployed homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage may be eligible to receive financial assistance through two new federal foreclosure-prevention programs facilitated by the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S.     Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Treasury Department has made $2 billion of additional   assistance available through the Housing Finance Agency’s (HFA) Hardest Hit Fund to help homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments due to unemployment.  

HUD also announced a $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program to assist homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure and have experienced      reduced income due to job loss, underemployment or a medical condition for up to 24 months.

 To qualify for this program, borrowers must meet the following criteria:

· They are at least three months delinquent on their mortgage payments and have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment within two years.

· The mortgage must be for the borrower’s principal residence.

· Borrowers may not own a second home.

· Borrowers must demonstrate a good payment record prior to the event that produced the loss of income.  

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia which had an unemployment rate at or above the national average over the past 12 months are eligible to receive assistance under the Hardest Hit Fund. States will use the funds to    develop programs that provide temporary mortgage assistance to eligible homeowners while they continue to seek employment or get job training.    Eligible states include: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina , Tennessee and Washington, D.C. v

For more information about these programs, visit  http://www.HUD.gov.