Unemployed Homeowners Have Just Three More Weeks to Apply for Financial Aid via Federal Government’s $1 Billion Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, Urges The Homeownership Preservation Foundation
Homeowners with Significant Income Reduction Due to Involuntary Unemployment, Underemployment, or Medical Condition Eligible for HUD Forgivable Loan Program
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 30, 2011 – The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure, today urged financially challenged unemployed homeowners to call its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at 888‐995‐HOPE™ to learn if they qualify for financial assistance through the Federal Government’s $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program (EHLP). The first critical deadline in the application process is July 22nd.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), EHLP is a zero‐interest, forgivable bridge loan program designed specifically to help unemployed and underemployed homeowners facing significant threat of foreclosure avoid that outcome.
Qualifying homeowners who meet certain income and mortgage delinquency parameters can apply for a bridge loan of up to $50,000 to fund no more than 24 months of mortgage payments on their principal residence. The loan is forgivable over a five‐year reduction period. Additional details are available on HPF’s website or by calling the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at 888‐995‐HOPE™.
“HUD’s Emergency Homeowners Loan Program is a rare opportunity for distressed homeowners currently underserved by other housing financial assistance programs to obtain much‐needed help,” said Colleen Hernandez, HPF’s CEO. “The program is expected to assist as many as 30,000 distressed borrowers, with an average loan of approximately $35,000, and we implore unemployed homeowners and other eligible borrowers who thought they were beyond hope of assistance to call us so that we can help them grab this possible mortgage life ring.”
She added: “For homeowners that stay in the home five years after receiving EHLP assistance, the debt is essentially forgiven. They don’t have to pay the government back. “The clock is ticking, however, as the July 22nd deadline is just three weeks away. Interested homeowners do need to call us today.”
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About the Homeownership Preservation Foundation
The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) is an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure. HPF guides consumers onto the path of sustainable homeownership and develops innovative solutions to preserve and expand homeownership. Through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, 888‐995‐HOPE™, HPF provides comprehensive financial education and confidential foreclosure prevention counseling for FREE, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, in over 170 languages. Since 2007, HPF has served more than four million distressed homeowners, an average of 5,500 each weekday, who depend upon HPF as a trusted, neutral source of information and assistance. For more information about the Homeownership Preservation Foundation or the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, please visit www.995hope.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Starkman & Associates
Jackie Condie
jcondie@starkmanpr.com
212‐370‐7187
