"Keep Your Home" Glitch
A program called “Keep Your Home California” can provide financial assistance to California homeowners who are in some form of financial distress on their residence. The program is funded by the Federal government and has $2 billion in funds allocated to it. You can learn more about the program and apply for help at www.KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org. Not everyone will qualify.
They have four main programs.
1. Unemployed Mortgage Assistance will pay your mortgage if you are unemployed.
2. Mortgage Reinstatement will help bring your payments current.
3. Principal Reduction will reduce your principal.
4. Transition Assistance will help you relocate to a rental if you can’t stay in your home.
The Unemployed Mortgage Assistance program is one of the largest and most requested programs. They will make your payment for up to six months if you are unemployed, and you don’t have to be behind to qualify.
But some California homeowners are running into a technicality that prevents them from taking advantage of this program, even if they qualify. There is a maximum monthly payout set at $3,000. This means if your mortgage payment is more than $3,000, it won’t cover the full payment.
Many homeowners would be willing to make the extra payment themselves, but that’s where the glitch comes in. Most loan servicers will not accept less than the full monthly payment. Let’s say your payment is $3,100. So your lender would receive one check from Keep Your Home California and then a check for $100 from you.
Most servicers would send BOTH checks back, refusing to cash them. The servicer may accept the checks if they were sent together in the same envelope, but Keep Your Home California only sends checks to the loan servicers, not to the homeowners.
And they aren’t set up to receive and manage checks from homeowners made out to their servicers. They are looking into solutions, but so far haven’t found one to this challenge.
They have four main programs.
1. Unemployed Mortgage Assistance will pay your mortgage if you are unemployed.
2. Mortgage Reinstatement will help bring your payments current.
3. Principal Reduction will reduce your principal.
4. Transition Assistance will help you relocate to a rental if you can’t stay in your home.
The Unemployed Mortgage Assistance program is one of the largest and most requested programs. They will make your payment for up to six months if you are unemployed, and you don’t have to be behind to qualify.
But some California homeowners are running into a technicality that prevents them from taking advantage of this program, even if they qualify. There is a maximum monthly payout set at $3,000. This means if your mortgage payment is more than $3,000, it won’t cover the full payment.
Many homeowners would be willing to make the extra payment themselves, but that’s where the glitch comes in. Most loan servicers will not accept less than the full monthly payment. Let’s say your payment is $3,100. So your lender would receive one check from Keep Your Home California and then a check for $100 from you.
Most servicers would send BOTH checks back, refusing to cash them. The servicer may accept the checks if they were sent together in the same envelope, but Keep Your Home California only sends checks to the loan servicers, not to the homeowners.
And they aren’t set up to receive and manage checks from homeowners made out to their servicers. They are looking into solutions, but so far haven’t found one to this challenge.
posted by RealtorSue at 11:45 AM
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