APRIL 2016
KeepYourHomeCalifornia | Newsletter

Keep Your Home California Receives Additional $383.3 Million in Funding to Help More Homeowners

Keep Your Home California will receive an additional $383.3 million in funding from the federal government, allowing the mortgage-assistance program to help prevent foreclosure for more homeowners struggling with financial hardships.
 
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the additional funding, the second phase of additional funding approved for the Hardest Hit Fund program during the past two months.

The combined $383.3 million will allow the state-managed program to help at least 12,000 more homeowners. Qualifying homeowners can receive up to $100,000 in mortgage payment assistance from Keep Your Home California.

April is Financial Literacy Month  

While financial literacy is important year-round, April is a special month as organizations across the state raise awareness about the resources available to people who want more information about making sound financial choices. Keep Your Home California may be able to help homeowners who are struggling with financial hardships, but there are a host of other groups who can help as well.

The California Financial Literacy Month portal provides information, news and resources to help Californians make informed financial decisions and achieve their financial goals. The content is provided by a growing list of California Financial Literacy Month partners, including government agencies, financial institutions and non-profit and community-based organizations.

The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) sponsored a California Financial Literacy Month Resource Fair on April 26 at the State Capitol, where Keep Your Home California's Community Outreach Liaison Denise Teora was present to answer questions and provide more information about the programs. DBO also has an online financial education website, available to people all year long.  

Funding
(as of Apr. 27, 2016)

Programs
  
Homeowners Assisted
Total Amount Distributed
Unemployment Mortgage Assistance
41,469    
$653,403,615.70
Principal Reduction Program
8,563     
$520,663,175.46
Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program
10,942    
$160,148,336.21
Reverse Mortgage Assistance Pilot Program
342
$3,920,765.34
Transition Assistance Program
971    
$3,449,862.11
Total Program
Funds Allocated
61,287     
$1,341,585,754.82
Partner Agency Achievements for 2015   

Earlier this month, Keep Your Home California held four regional meetings with all of our partner HUD approved housing counseling agencies. The meetings took place in Los Angeles, Riverside, Merced, and Oakland where agencies from the surrounding areas came together to discuss recent developments with the program.

At these meetings, agencies who had achieved outstanding performance metrics in 2015 were presented with certificates in recognition for their hard work. Following is a complete list of the agencies that were honored:

100% of Clients Returned Documents
For working closely with homeowners, resulting in 100% of their clients who applied for Keep Your Home California returning required documentation.
Partner agency certificate recipients at the Los Angeles meeting.
100% of Clients Received a Homeowner Action Plan
For their outstanding counseling efforts to ensure 100% of their clients who applied for Keep Your Home California received a Homeowner Action Plan.
Partner agency certificate recipients at the Oakland meeting.
Submission Superstar
For being a "Submission Superstar" by helping 1,727 homeowners apply for Keep Your Home California; the most clients submitted from any partner agency in 2015.Submission Star
For being a "Submission Star" by helping hundreds of homeowners apply for Keep Your Home California in 2015.
Partner agency certificate recipients at the Riverside meeting.
Most Efficient Agency
For achieving the highest efficiency ratio for any Keep Your Home California partner agency in 2015.100% Attendance
For having 100% attendance at all Keep Your Home California partner agency meetings, webinars, and conference calls in 2015.
Partner agency certificate recipients at the Merced meeting.
Recent Blog Post:

Are Homes Affordable Across California?
Editor's note: Zillow has provided a special blog detailing the financial challenges of owning a home in California.


California's real estate scene has received a lot of attention over the last few years. While prices skyrocketed in San Francisco, 10.2 percent of homeowners in Riverside are facing underwater mortgages. For many individuals, rising home prices coupled with stagnant wages in the last decade have caused concerns about the affordability of homes across California.

Check out these five markets where Zillow calculated whether a median priced home would be affordable for a family earning the median income for that city.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles boasts a median home value of $586,000 as of February 2016. A simple mortgage calculator shows that a median-priced L.A. home with a traditional 20 percent down payment and 3.5 percent mortgage rate would result in a $2,760 monthly payment, including taxes and insurance.

Read More   

Success Story: Mike C.
Father with six children becomes unemployed and applies for Keep Your Home California.

Mike C. spent more than 25 years working for the same company, until his position was eliminated.

"I saw the commercials on television and didn't think anything about it," Mike says of the Keep Your Home California ads. "All of the sudden, I was unemployed...

Read More    
Monthly Question & Answer

A:
Keep Your Home California uses a homeowner's gross income to determine program eligibility.

Gross income is the amount of income earned before any deductions are taken. Net income is the amount of income left over after all deductions have been taken from gross income.
  
Water Saving Tips

Select the proper pan size for cooking. Large pans may require more cooking water than necessary.


For more tips on what you can do to save water, please visit the Save Our Water website.
To see all Servicer Scorecards, please visit the Participating Servicers webpage.
May 6, 2016
10:00am - 2:00pm
Veterans Resource Fair
Rancho Cordova, CA
May 21, 2016
8:30am - 4:30pm
Homebuyer Education Workshop
Oxnard, CA
May 21, 2016
8:30am - 5:30pm
Homebuyer Education Workshop
Ventura, CA
May 21, 2016
9:00am - 3:00pm
Foreclosure Prevention and First Time Homebuyer Workshop
Palmdale, CA
May 21, 2016
11:00am - 2:00pm
Hometown Heroes BBQ
Elk Grove, CA



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