Do you want to read a staggering statistic? One in every 237 homes in Michigan is in some stage of foreclosure. To make matters worse, many experts say that number is likely to grow here in our state even though across the nation the foreclosure rate is leveling off. One of our viewers found themselves teetering on foreclosure and looking for help but that has lead to a lot of questions. The answers I found for her are the subject of this Fact Finder.
Exhausted, frustrated, and desperate a Northern Michigan homeowner who wished to remain anonymous fiddled with her mortgage statement, and simply explained to me "right now we are currently 93 days behind and we have been served our first set of foreclosure papers." Like many, no amount of hard work or penny pinching seems to be able to fix the situation. She says "we had some unexpected occurrences in our family, funeral expenses, and we had some issues. My husband is self employed and his income is down more than 30%. It makes me sick, makes me sad. I never thought we would be in this situation never."
While in disbelief, like tens of thousands of Michigan residents she is not alone. She says she reached the point where she had exhausted every avenue for help she knew, "I have knocked on every door twice. We have gone through every community agency every help agency and nothing." But her hopes were lifted when the state announced the new Helping Hardest Hit Homeowners program which can provide thousands of dollars in mortgage help for who are behind on their payments. She says "we thought this might be a good option for us so we logged on to the website. It directs you to see if you qualify." And she did until the final hurdle. It dashed her hopes.
Although she met all the requirements to get the mortgage help, the one thing didn't have was a lender on the participating list. When she called the MHSDA she says she was told "there is nothing they can do for us, absolutely nothing they can do for us. Unless your lender is on the list." The list is growing everyday, but it is not long, and there is an obvious trend to it. Our homeowner accurately described it as "every bank that is on the list seems to be Michigan based every single one."
The problem is that most of us have mortgages from large lending companies not based in Michigan. Couple that with the fact that most of the lenders participating in the program are Michigan based, and our viewer was left wondering whether the hardest hit program was created to actually help struggling Michigan residents, or struggling Michigan banks.
I contacted the Michigan State Housing Development Authority which oversees the program to get to the bottom of the situation. Even though banks are being added almost daily to the list, our homeowner was concerned that the limited money will run out before hers is added. In a response to our viewer's questions, the MSHDA issued this response:
"We opened the program to all lenders that have mortgages on properties within the State. We have not limited participation to only in-state lenders. Actually we are encouraging out of state lenders and having conference calls with these organizations. With the increase in our outreach to out of state lenders, we are hoping that the participating lenders list will reflect these efforts. Participation for homeowners is first come, first serve. Yet we do not think that we will exhaust these funds until 12-18 months out. Please have her continue to reach out to her lender and if you would like, please pass on her lenders name and I will make sure to contact their corporate office and inquire about participation."
While the state's list of participating lenders is slowly growing it may not expand quickly enough to help our viewer. The problem may be further compounded by the fact that lenders are not required to participate. State help may not arrive in time to keep this viewer in her home.
S what have your experiences been with the hardest hit, or other mortgage help programs? Do you have any tips or warnings for your fellow viewers? Please leave a comment below.
