IN THE NEWS
Help available to struggling homeowners
March 27, 2009; As originally appeared in The Valley Gazette
Thousands of Connecticut residents face the prospect that they could lose their homes due to foreclosure.
The reasons vary as to why so many homeowners find themselves in this predicament, unable to meet their monthly mortgage payments. The explanations range from job loss and wage reductions caused by the economic crisis, to being granted subprime home loans many of them could not afford.
However, one factor remains the same for just about every struggling family: They desperately want to retain ownership of their home.
The good news is that help is on the way.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th) hosted an information forum at Bridgeport City Hall March 7 on the various forms of foreclosure assistance available to Connecticut residents. The forum featured state and local officials, and foreclosure experts from community organizations.
Himes said some 2,400 in the Fourth District families face the threat of foreclosure.
“And 1,000 of them are in Bridgeport alone,” Himes said. An estimated 7,000 homes in the District could be foreclosed in the next four years.
“But we are now assembling tools to deal with this in the future,” he said of Congress.
Himes said the Obama administration’s new anti-foreclosure plan (Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan) and the housing bill recently passed by the House of Representatives (Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009) would go a long way toward allowing many Connecticut families to remain in their homes.
In addition, the Greenwich resident said many of the nation’s largest banks have put a moratorium on foreclosures, to give the federal government time to work on a comprehensive plan to rescue struggling homeowners.
“We don’t want bankruptcy. We want to prevent foreclosures,” he said of the government. “And the banks don’t like it either.”
The key component of the Obama administration’s plan to prevent foreclosures is a $1,000 financial incentive for loan servicers to modify existing mortgages that are in trouble.
In addition, financial institutions that receive the next round of capital infusions through the Troubled Assets Relief Program will be required to participate in the new foreclosure-related programs, and they must implement stronger loan modification guidelines.
Himes said if the Senate also passes the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, the legislation could save some 1,000 homes in the Fourth District from foreclosure by allowing bankruptcy judges to reduce the secured amount of a home loan down to its fair market value.
Since the housing bubble burst last year, many homeowners are now saddled with mortgages that have a much higher principle than the market value of their homes.
Himes said the modifications — if the current version of the bill does become law — would allow some 7 to 9 million families to restructure or refinance their mortgages, creating more affordable monthly payments and preventing foreclosures.
Ansonia gets good news
Ansonia received word this week that it is one of 12 Connecticut municipalities that will receive federal stimulus funding from a Small Cities community development block grant allocation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
A total of $3,616,527 will be directed to the cities and towns that are experiencing high rates of foreclosure.
The money will be used to help local community organizations identify and purchase bank-owned properties, Governor M. Jodi Rell announced Monday.
This new program will compliment $25 million in mortgage assistance funding the state received under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).
Many programs available for homeowners
Himes stressed that there are many programs at the state and local level that can help struggling homeowners stave off foreclosure.
The problem, he said, is that many residents are unaware these programs exist.
“We have to make sure that the people who are struggling are aware of them... it’s a new world now with new politics,” he said of the Obama administration’s efforts to stabilize the nation’s struggling economy.
CHFA
One of the state organizations that provides financial and informational assistance to struggling homeowners is the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
CHFA, which also helps low and middle income people purchase their first homes, has been working to prevent foreclosures through the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP).
The program, which was passed by the General Assembly last year, provides financial assistance for up to five years to residents suffering a temporary financial hardship, who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, and have received a notice of foreclosure from their lender.
“We help people save their homes,” said Valencia Taft-Jackson, manager of residential mortgages for CHFA, during Saturday’s forum.
Taft-Jackson said the agency had been assisting homeowners through the Connecticut Families Program, a refinancing program, but that program was discontinued on Dec. 31.
She said Connecticut Families II is now being revamped and enhanced, and should provide assistance to residents sometime in the near future.
“So, we are working to fill that gap,” Taft-Jackson said.
CHFA has a foreclosure information hotline at (877)-571-2432.
Other organizations
Another organization offering assistance is Stamford-based Housing Development Funds.
Joan Carty, the nonprofit company’s president and chief executive officers, said her organization can provide pro-bono legal assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure.
“These are sobering times,” Carty said. “We’re in rapidly moving waters here. We need to turn the Titanic around as fast as we can, and we intend to do it.”
Tom Long, Workplace Inc. project manager, said his organization can provide assistance to struggling homeowners. The group offers comprehensive career counseling and education grants to those who seek secure and better employment.
“It’s part of a total solution,” Long said.
|
