Foreclosure Help (photo by Brendel)
A foreclosure help phone line was overwhelmed in Michigan last week when it opened, crashing soon after because of a rush of enquiries from all over the state.
Michigan, as well as Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California have all launched their own foreclosure help programs to assist foreclosure prevention among the unemployed and those struggling to make ends meet.
Offering something that the federal Home Affordable Mortgage Program does not offer, Michigan knows it can provide real foreclosure help to borrowers by giving them cash payments and principle reductions.
The state aid program offer unemployed borrowers a ceiling of $750 a month to assist towards mortgage payments, and a principle reduction sum of $15,000 of mortgage help.
There is one glaring problem with this foreclosure help program: the biggest and most popular lenders in the country are not yet part of the program, and for it to make a real impact and offer real foreclosure help, they need to be.
Other states are also offering their own funded programs to help with foreclosure prevention. Michigan is ahead of most of them, but the others will follow in the coming weeks and months.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Michigan who has stumbled at the starting line, rather than provide the real foreclosure help it promised. That’s not to say it won’t work well once the wrinkles are ironed out as it’s still early days, but a greater initial impact was hoped for.
It is of course taxpayers money that is being spent on the foreclosure help programs. The billions being spent ultimately helps lenders more than anyone, so the question in these troubled times is simply, how long can it all go on?
Related Posts:
- Foreclosure Prevention: Is The Home Affordable Modification Program Enough?
- Foreclosure Prevention Legislation Efforts Ramps Up a Notch
- Prevent Foreclosure Penalties – Fannie Mae Cracks Down
- Foreclosure Prevention Becoming Easier For Some As Financial Stress Eases
- The Mortgage Modification Program – Homeowners Lower Their Home Loan Payment
