Blog Post

California is expanding eligibility for its foreclosure relief efforts. Homeowners who were previously excluded from the state's $2 billion dollar relief programs may now qualify to participate.

The California Housing Finance Agency reconsidered its previous policy based on the state’s continued high levels of unemployment. Executive Director Steven Spears said, “In the two short months since the launch of these programs, we have collected information that has helped us identify areas of improvement to make the programs more effective, particularly given the continued high level of unemployment in California.”

Homeowners who refinanced or took out home equity lines of credit will now be allowed to participate in three of the four ‘Keep Your Home California’ programs, including a plan that would give home owners as much as $15,000 towards staying current on mortgage payments, and the state’s largest initiative- which provides homeowners who have lost their jobs or taken major pay reductions as much as $3000 a month for up to six months towards mortgage payments or related costs.

These programs are also being expanded to include mortgages that began after January 1st of 2009. While the programs are still limited by certain criteria, homeowners who were previously denied from these programs can now reapply.

Posted 13th April 2011 by Sally Forster Jones