The United States Government has allocated funding for troubled homeowners in Florida (open to residents in all 67 Florida counties)  to help pay the mortgages of qualified homeowners who are unemployed or underemployed through no fault of their own.

Homeowners who qualify for financial assistance may receive up to six (6) months of monthly mortgage payments (including escrowed mortgage-related payments) and/or funds to pay past due mortgage payments to bring the mortgage current; these funds are paid directly to the loan servicer/lender.

A key point is that a candidate must meet all eligibility requirements to be considered for the program.  The following apply to the requirements for HHF assistance:

An eligible homeowner:

• Must be a Florida resident;
• Must occupy property as primary residence (the property cannot be vacant, abandoned or rented);
• Borrower/co-borrower must be unemployed or underemployed through no fault of his/her own, which makes the first mortgage unaffordable;
• Must have documented total household income at or below 140% of the area median income (AMI), adjusted for household size;
• Must have an active checking/savings account that can be debited by the ACH method of funds transfer;
• May not have unencumbered assets of $5,000 or more, or three times the current monthly mortgage payment (whichever is greater);
• Cannot have a bankruptcy that has not been discharged or dismissed; and
• Cannot have been convicted of a mortgage-related felony in the last 10 years.

The current mortgage:

• Must be serviced by a participating lender, who agrees to accept payments on behalf of the homeowner;
• Must not be more than 180 days past due at the time of application;
• Must have been originated on or before January 1, 2009; and
• Must have an existing principal balance of less than $400,000.

This list does not cover everything.  For full details about the requirements and more information about the program, please click here (will download a .pdf).

While the criteria are pretty restrictive, this could be a great help to those that are eligible.