One year ago, we distributed the first Keep Your Home California newsletter. It has been a busy year, as over 15,000 households have received assistance from Keep Your Home California since that first issue and the amount of funding provided has nearly doubled (from $402 million in September 2013 to $792 million in September 2014). Over the course of the past year, the newsletter has helped us share some of the work that has gone into making those numbers possible.

In that first newsletter, the following statement was included in the welcome message: "These newsletters will allow you to track program progress, learn about changes, show what is happening in your area, and keep you apprised of important updates. We are excited about the opportunity to provide this information to you directly on a regular basis."

That statement remains as true today as it was a year ago. We feel we are off to a good start after our first year of newsletters and pledge to continue bringing you updates and information about the program in future installments.

The 2014 second quarter report to US Treasury was recently posted on the Keep Your Home California website and data from the report was added to the Reports and Statistics webpage. The report details recent progress for Keep Your Home California. Some of the highlights include:

• For the first time, the amount of Keep Your Home California funding provided in a single quarter surpassed $90 million. Over $20 million more was approved in the second quarter of 2014 than in the second quarter of 2013.
   
• The Principal Reduction Program (PRP) saw a 42% increase in servicer participation with the addition of 57 new registered servicers in the past year. There were over 500 approved PRP transactions in the second quarter.
   
• Approved PRP transactions resulted in the median monthly payment being reduced by $269, an almost 20% reduction. The median homeowner debt-to-income ratio was also reduced from 37% to 30%.

View full report here.

In past editions of the newsletter, we have highlighted community events that our partner HUD approved housing counseling agencies host in order to help homeowners get more information about foreclosure prevention options that are available to them. Those events are ongoing - you will find some coming up in the near future in the sidebar on the right - but there are also others put on by servicers, elected officials, and non-profit organizations, just to name a few. Just like the events put on by the housing counseling agencies, these events are free of charge and provide homeowners with a wealth of information.

In the coming weeks, several events will take place across the state. Each of the events listed below will have representatives from Keep Your Home California present to provide information about the programs. We appreciate that the event sponsors have included Keep Your Home California and look forward to helping many more California homeowners through these valuable outreach opportunities.