Friday,April 29, 2011
Florida Hit Hardest, Trying to Recover
Florida has received $1 billion dollars in federal funding in order to help ease the ravaging effects of the housing crisis. The money funds the Hardest Hit Fund, which aims to provide mortgage assistance to approximately 40,000 Florida homeowners. For borrowers who are not more than 180 days late in their mortgage payments, the Fund can either provide up to six months of mortgage payment assistance (up to $12,000) for homeowners who are currently unemployed or underemployed or it can provide up to $6,000 to help make a delinquent mortgage current if the homeowner has recently returned to work after being unemployed or underemployed. The program expects success based not only on the financial assistance being provided to struggling homeowners, but also due to the fact that homeowners will be maintaining responsibility for their homes and will still be expected to contribute financially to their mortgages. Florida was chosen as one of the states hit hardest by foreclosure as a result of low employment rates and plummeting home prices.