The Obama Administration on Wednesday announced an additional $2 billion to help homeowners struggling with unemployment to be delivered through the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) under the Hardest Hit Fund. In parallel, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will launch a complementary $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program to provide assistance for up to 24 months to homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure and have experienced a substantial reduction in income.
Hardest Hit Fund
President Obama first announced the Hardest Hit Fund in February 2010 to allow states hit hard by the economic downturn flexibility in determining how to design and implement programs to meet the local challenges homeowners in their state are facing.
Under the additional assistance announced today, states eligible to receive support have all experienced an unemployment rate at or above the national average over the past 12 months. Each state will use the funds for targeted unemployment programs that provide temporary assistance to eligible homeowners to help them pay their mortgage while they seek re-employment, additional employment or undertake job training.
States that have already benefited from previously announced assistance under the Hardest Hit Fund may use these additional resources to support the unemployment programs previously approved by Treasury or they may opt to implement a new unemployment program. States that do not currently have Hardest Hit Fund unemployment programs must submit proposals to Treasury by September 1, 2010 that, within established guidelines, meet the distinct needs of their state.
The HUD Emergency Homeowners Loan Program
This new program will complement Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund by providing assistance to homeowners in hard hit local areas that may not be included in the hardest hit target states. Those areas are still being determined.
The program will work through a variety of state and non-profit entities and will offer a declining balance, deferred payment “bridge loan” (zero percent interest, non-recourse, subordinate loan) for up to $50,000 to assist eligible borrowers with payments on their mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance, taxes and hazard insurance for up to 24 months.
Under the program, eligible borrowers must:
1. Be at least three months delinquent in their payments and have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment of their mortgage payments and related housing expenses within two years;
2. Have a mortgage property that is the principal residence of the borrower, and eligible borrowers may not own a second home;
3. Demonstrate a good payment record prior to the event that produced the reduction of income.
