April 19, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Unemployed workers and others facing temporary financial hardships in our area have a new avenue to seek mortgage help while they get back on their feet.
Davidson County Community Action of Lexington has joined 38 counseling organizations statewide in offering the N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund,™ a mortgage assistance program offered through the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. Davidson County Community Action serves Davidson, Davie, Forsyth and Randolph counties. [EDITOR: Other local agencies offering the program your area are listed at http://www.ncforeclosureprevention.gov/map_contact_counselor.aspx]
The N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund™ makes mortgage payments for unemployed workers while they seek jobs or complete job training in a new field. Others who are at risk of falling behind on their payments because of divorce, serious illness or certain other temporary setbacks, may also be eligible for assistance while they while they look for work.
Homeowners must have a good mortgage payment history prior to the job loss or hardship and demonstrate an ability to resume their mortgage payments once the assistance ends.
“More than 500 homeowners have already been approved for mortgage payment assistance under the Fund,” said A. Robert Kucab, executive director of the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, the self-supporting state agency that designed and manages the effort. “The goal is to help responsible North Carolina homeowners keep their homes and to support the state’s economic recovery by protecting property values and the local tax base.”
The assistance is provided as a zero-interest, deferred loan of up to $24,000 or 24 months of mortgage-related payments. In high unemployment counties, such as Davidson, Davie, and Forsyth, the maximum assistance is $36,000 or 36 months.
Homeowners will resume making their own mortgage payments at the end of the loan period. If the owner continues to live in the home for 10 years, the loan will be considered satisfied and no repayment will be due.
Homeowners do not need to be behind on payments to seek help. For more information about their eligibility, consumers can call the information line, 1-888-623-8631 or go to www.NCForeclosurePrevention.gov. To contact Davidson County Community Action, call 336-249-0234 or go to www.dccommunityaction.org.
The N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund™ uses funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund™, which was authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. It is available in 18 states and the District of Columbia, which have experienced high unemployment or a steep decline in property values. North Carolina was selected because of the large percentage of the population living in counties with high unemployment rates in 2009.
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The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is a self-supporting public agency. It has financed 201,000 homes and apartments in the last three decades, including 82,000 homes for first-time home buyers.
Consumer Contact:
Counseling Agencies or 1-888-623-8631
Press Contact Only:
Margaret Matrone, NCHFA, 919-877-5606, mamatrone (at) nchfa (dot) com
Connie Helmlinger, NCHFA, 919-877-5607, cshelmlinger @nchfa.com
