Program Helps California Homeowners Keep Homes If They Lose Jobs, Or Owe More Than It's Worth
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The economy may be turning around, but thousands of homeowners are still at risk of losing their homes, and money that could help them could be pulled away.
Shannon and Jerry West have been in their home since 2009. But when Shannon lost her job last year, it threw their family for a loop.
"It's hard," she said. ""You cut things back and you cut your lifestyle back quite a bit."
Shannon hasn't been able to find another job, and they couple says they would have lost their home had they not heard of Keep Your Home California.
"We weren't ready to get rid of it," Jerry said. "We were gonna fight."
The program has been around since 2011 when the federal government gave $2 billion of bailout money to California to keep low- and middle-income families from losing their homes.
"We can use that funding up until the end of 2017 or until it runs out, whichever happens first," said spokesman Steve Gallagher.
He says the state still has about $1 billion left to spend on
- mortgage reinstatement assistance for homeowners,
- principal reduction for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth,
- transition assistance for people who are going through a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure,
- and finally, unemployment mortgage assistance, which will pay your mortgage while you look for work.
That program was just expanded to up to 18 months.
"We verify whether or not people are still unemployed, because if we find that somebody did get reemployed, we will stop making payments on their behalf," he said.
The West family was approved for the unemployment mortgage assistance. Shannon says it takes a huge weight off her shoulders, knowing they'll keep their home so she can focus on finding new work.
"It's not a big, glorious home, but we love it. We love what's in it, which is our kids and our family and where we sit down together as a family," she said.
