New Jersey Launches Foreclosure Prevention Program for Unemployed

The ""New Jersey HomeKeeper Program"":http//www.njhomekeeper.gov officially launched this week to provide payment assistance to homeowners in the state who are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure as a direct result of unemployment or underemployment.
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The latest figures from the ""New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development"":http://lwd.state.nj.us/labor/lwdhome/press/20110414_unemployment_release.html reveal the state's unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in March.

""We understand that New Jersey families - like households around the country - continue to face difficult economic realities, and we want to help them keep their homes as they look for work,"" said Lori Grifa, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA).

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The ""New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency"":http://www.state.nj.us/dca/hmfa/ (HMFA), a DCA affiliate, will administer the HomeKeeper Program. The effort is supported by grant money received from the U.S. Treasury Department's Hardest Hit Fund, a federal initiative that provided funds to 18 states and the District of Columbia to develop localized programs to address the struggles of homeowners in their communities.

For the homeowners who qualify, the HomeKeeper Program will allow them to focus on becoming reemployed at a level that they can resume making payments on their own,"" said Anthony Marchetta, HMFA executive director.

The program provides zero percent interest rate, deferred payment mortgage loans to unemployed and underemployed homeowners who, through no fault of their own, are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

The program allows time for homeowners to seek reemployment or to complete an approved job training program. Qualified homeowners could receive up to $48,000 in assistance for up to 24 months.

The loan will be forgiven in full as long as the homeowner remains in the home for at least 10 years. If the homeowner sells, refinances, transfers, or ceases to occupy the property during that time, the assistance loan is repayable.