The federal government is throwing a one-time-only financial lifeline to homeowners in danger of foreclosure in New York.
The catch is, people have to apply by July 22 and have to go through a lottery.
If selected, the homeowner can receive a forgivable loan of up to $50,000 through the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, or EHLP.
Ellie Pepper, assistant director of the Schenectady-based Better Neighborhoods Inc., said the lottery is necessary as the state has a limited number of slots for the program — 2,280 slots for metropolitan areas and 347 slots for non-metropolitan areas.
BNI has applied for 15 metropolitan slots and six rural slots. BNI will administer the program in Schenectady, Fulton and Montgomery counties while the Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program will administer it in Columbia, Greene, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties.
Pepper said the EHLP loan can be used to make payments of principal, interest, taxes and insurance worth up to $50,000 or for two years, whichever comes first. She said the loan carries no interest and does not have to be repaid if the homeowner remains current in monthly mortgage payments, among other requirements.
To qualify for the loan, the homeowner has to have experienced a substantial loss of income, equal to at least 15 percent, due to unemployment or underemployment caused by adverse economic conditions or through a medical condition.
“The big criteria for the program is that the borrower must be at least three months delinquent as of June 1 and the borrower must have received a notice from the lender that a foreclosure filing is imminent,” Pepper said.
For more information, visit www.better-neighborhoods.org or www.findehlp.org.
Categories: Schenectady County
