Oklahoma Lawmaker Promotes Program for Distressed Homeowners

The clock is ticking on a federal program designed to assist distressed homeowners who have experienced a drop in income of at least 15 percent directly resulting from involuntary unemployment or underemployment due to adverse economic conditions and/or a medical emergency.

State Representative Anastasia A. Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, recommends that all struggling homeowners review this program and if eligible, consider applying before the July 22 deadline.

The Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program was created and received funding of $1 billion with the passage of the federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Oklahoma is one of 27 states receiving funding under the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan program (EHLP). Under EHLP program guidelines eligible homeowners can qualify for an interest free loan which pays a portion of their monthly mortgage for up to two years, or up to $50,000, whichever comes first.

EHLP eligibility requirements include:

• Income Limit: Applicant has a total household income equal to, or less than, the greater of either $75,000 or 120 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) for a household size of four (4) persons previous to loss of income resulting from involuntary unemployment, underemployment, and/or medical emergency/serious injury.
• Delinquency: Applicant must be at least three months delinquent on mortgage payments, as signified by notification by their lender/servicer.
• Likelihood of Foreclosure: Applicant must have received notification of their lender’s/servicer’s intention to foreclose on their mortgage as a result of the delinquency, and must also certify to the likelihood that their mortgage will be foreclosed upon.
• Ability to Resume Payment: Applicant can be determined to have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment of the first mortgage obligations within 2 years, and meet other housing expenses and debt obligations when the household income rises above 85% of the previous level.
• Principal Residence: Applicant must reside in the mortgaged property as their principal residence, both at time of application and for the duration of the program loan period. The mortgaged property must also be a single family residence (1 to 4 unit structure or condominium unit).

In order to ensure that program funds are made available in a fair and impartial manner, homeowners interested in applying must first complete a Pre-Applicant Screening Worksheet. If there are more potentially eligible homeowners than there are funds available to assist them, these worksheets will be entered into a randomized selection process.

EHLP counseling agencies will evaluate completed screening worksheets to make an initial, informal pre-determination of household eligibility. Homeowners whose completed worksheets meet this standard will be randomly selected, and these homeowners will be invited to apply for an EHLP loan in the order they are selected.

The Pre-Applicant eligibility screening period will run from between June 20, 2011 through July 22, 2011. The homeowner application period will not begin until late July 2011.

Source: Oklahoma Legislature

Topics Legislation Homeowners Oklahoma