Troubled Riverside County Homeowners Could Get Federal Help

Riverside County homeowners upside-down on their mortgages and facing foreclosure may be eligible for help through a taxpayer- funded program expected to be available this fall, state officials reported today.

The California Housing Finance Agency — CalHFA — has received federal approval to allocate roughly $700 million in funds distributed to California under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for aid to financially distressed homeowners.

“California’s twin problems of unemployment and declining real estate values have created a homeownership crisis for many of today’s California families,” said Steven Spears, executive director of CalHFA.

“We will use these funds to help as many families as possible remain in their homes and, in so doing, stabilize neighborhoods that have been severely impacted by foreclosures,” he said.

The CalHFA program will offer qualifying borrowers mortgage payment assistance if they’re unemployed; reductions in principal for qualifying borrowers whose properties are worth less than their loans; assistance with ending delinquencies; and transition funding for families unable to avoid defaulting on their mortgages and looking to downgrade.

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