HUD Launches “Homeowner Help” for Mortgage Assistance
“Homeowner Help” is a new public service announcement (PSA) and television ad campaign being launched by the department of U.S. Housing and Urban Development. An accompanying Homeowner Help website and a Mortgage Assistance Guide are additional resources to educate homeowners at risk of mortgage default learn about potential assistance from the recent $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement.
It is not entirely clear how homeowners in trouble qualify for financial assistance. “There’s no simple, one-sentence explanation,” Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a recent conference call with reporters.
Mortgage assistance will vary with each homeowner’s situation and may include:
- Mortgage payment assistance for unemployed or underemployed homeowners.
- Principal reduction to help homeowners get into more affordable mortgages.
- Funding to reduce or eliminate homeowners’ second lien loans.
- Help for homeowners who are transitioning out of their homes and into more affordable places of residence.
In April of 2012, a Federal District Court approved the landmark $25 billion agreement between the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 49 state attorneys general and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers – Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo – to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. The settlement will provide up to $25 billion in relief to borrowers and direct payments to the states and federal government. It is the largest multi-state settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998.
The PSA can be viewed at www.hud.gov and www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com.
Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Defense Attorney
If you are at risk of losing your home to mortgage foreclosure, there is action you can take. Contact Fort Lauderdale mortgage foreclosure attorney Marcy Resnik to discuss how you can defend your legal rights in a foreclosure. You can contact Ms. Resnik online or call her at 954-321-0176.