3 On Your Side: Emergency Homeowner Loans
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Time is quickly ticking away for some Pennsylvania families who may be at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan tells us about money that is available to help out, but you have to act fast!
$105 million dollars was made available several months ago to Pennsylvania residents through HUD's Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program. The program allowed homeowners to borrow up to $50,000 interest free to assist with mortgage principal, interest, insurance and taxes. But the loans will only be made available for a few more days.
The Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program was designed to help homeowners who had a good payment record before the unexpected happened.
Patricia Hasson, President of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley, says, "If you've lost your job, you're unemployed, you're under-employed, so you were counting on overtime and you are no longer getting it, or if you're suffering some type of medical disability, those candidates would be eligible to apply for these funds."
To qualify for these zero interest loans, Pennsylvania homeowners must:
- Have a reduction in their gross income of at least 15 percent
- Due to involuntary unemployment, under-employment or medical reasons.
- Homeowners must be at least 3 payments behind on their mortgage.
- And have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment of the mortgage within two years.
Homeowners can apply for the loan through approved counseling agencies. The state deadline to apply for the funds is September 16th.
Hasson says, "This is a hard and fast deadline you need to get your application in, the sooner you get it in, the sooner it will be reviewed, and the better the chances of you receiving those funds."
While that September 16th deadline is when your application has to be received by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, counseling agencies need to process your information even before that. For more information about these loans, and loans available for New Jersey and Delaware residents, click on the links below:
Consumer Credit Counseling Svc.
Reported by Jim Donovan, CBS 3
