PROGRAM LOOKS TO PROVIDE MORE MONEY FOR STRUGGLING HOMEOWNERS

For the roughly four million homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, the federal government is offering yet another remedy: free money to catch up on their loans, SmartMoney.com reported today. The effort, called the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, is the latest in the federal government's efforts to slow down the flood of foreclosures, a necessary step to a meaningful recovery in the housing market, says a Department of Housing and Urban Development official. Loans of up to $50,000 that do not actually need to be repaid if applicants meet certain requirements. http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/real-estate/more-money-for-struggling-homeowners-1309312646029/#printMode

to apply http://ehlp.nw.org/

docs http://ehlp.nw.org/documents/EHLPDocumentChecklistforHomeownersSelectedintheLottery.pdf

program

http://ehlp.nw.org/findaforeclosurecounselorEHLP.asp

EHLP is only available in the following states/territory: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Those states that are not identified above (non-EHLP states) receive direct assistance through the U.S. Treasury's Innovation Fund for Hardest Hit Housing Market Program. The list of Hardest Hit Fund states is provided below. If you live in one of these states, click on that state's name to find out more about Hardest Hit Housing Market Program that is available where you live.   Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington DC

An eligible homeowner:

• Must be a Florida resident;

• Must occupy property as primary residence (the property cannot be vacant, abandoned or rented);

• Borrower/co-borrower must be unemployed or underemployed through no fault of his/her own, which makes the first mortgage unaffordable;

• Must have documented total household income at or below 140% of the area median income (AMI), adjusted for household size;

• Must have an active checking/savings account that can be debited by the ACH method of funds transfer;

• May not have unencumbered assets of $5,000 or more, or three times the current monthly mortgage payment (whichever is greater);

• Cannot have a bankruptcy that has not been discharged or dismissed; and

• Cannot have been convicted of a mortgage-related felony in the last 10 years.

The current mortgage:

• Must be serviced by a participating lender, who agrees to accept payments on behalf of the homeowner;

• Must not be more than 180 days past due at the time of application;

• Must have been originated on or before January 1, 2009; and

• Must have an existing principal balance of less than $400,000.

https://www.flhardesthithelp.org/


http://www.floridamortgagecorp.com/area_median_income.htm


PASCO COUNTY, FL $54,400

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL $54,400

POLK COUNTY, FL $49,500

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL $54,400

http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/US/Florida/Pinellas-County-Demographics.aspx

http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il/il2009/2009ILCalc.odb?inputname=Pinellas%
20County&area_id=METRO45300M45300&fips=1205399999&type=county&year=2009&yy=09&stname=Florida&stusps=FL&statefp=12&ACS_Survey=Yes&State_Count=1.0&areaname=Pinellas%20County&wherefrom=mtsp&level=50