One of the most common questions we get from people is, "How do I find out if I qualify for Keep Your Home California?" Since we often focus on program updates in this space, we thought this might be a good time to take a step back and review the different ways homeowners interested in applying for Keep Your Home California can find out whether they are eligible for assistance:
Community Outreach Event Attendance
Community outreach events are some of the best opportunities we have to raise awareness about Keep Your Home California. Oftentimes at events, we are able to meet with homeowners one-on-one to discuss how the programs may be able to help, depending on their situation.
In September, Keep Your Home California had a presence at 29 outreach events across the state, bringing the total number of outreach events we've attended to over 1,100 since the program began in February 2011.
The event pictured above was earlier this month at the Monterey County Fair, where we shared a resource table with our friends at the Department of Business Oversight over a two day period. Some events we attend are large conferences where we speak to hundreds of people while others are small workshops where the turnout may be a dozen or less.The point is, when it comes to raising awareness about Keep Your Home California to homeowners in need, no event is too large or small.
Each month, we include upcoming events in the newsletter in the sidebar on the right - and you can always find the events where Keep Your Home California will be present on our Calendar of Events webpage. If your organization is interested in having a Keep Your Home California representative participate in an event in your community, please email us at Info@kyhca.org.
Funding
(as of September 29, 2016)
Programs
Homeowners Assisted
Total Amount Distributed
Unemployment Mortgage Assistance
43,896
$718,395,997.61
Principal Reduction Program
9,606
$585,146,992.82
Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program
11,622
$173,157,073.47
Reverse Mortgage Assistance Pilot Program
467
$5,734,263.61
Transition Assistance Program
1,003
$3,562,994.94
Total Program
Funds Allocated
66,594
$1,485,997,322.45
Recent Blog Post:
402,000 homeowners faced with underwater mortgages in California
Imagine everyone in Oakland dealing with a financial headache, one that can affect everything from their buying power to retirement plans?
That's the far-reaching effect of negative equity in California.
Sure, the housing market has enjoyed a big-time boom-the median-home price is at the highest level in seven years-and many homeowners, especially those who bought in the past few years in the Bay Area and Southern California, are money ahead.
But hundreds of thousands of homeowners-about 402,000-are dealing with an underwater mortgage, where they owe more than the current value of their home, according to the latest Zillow report.
'Over-the-heels happy' when homeowner was approved for Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program
Shay B. had always lived in an apartment, until she found just-the-right condo at a still-affordable price in Southern California.
The single mother of three children - 11, 14 and 20 years old - moved into her new home in April 2014. The family had a garage, a laundry room and even bought a terrier mix named "Bruiser."
"It just seemed very spacious," Shay says of the three-level condo. "Nobody is cramped."
Then, a "bunch of things happened" that turned her dream of homeownership into a real-life nightmare.
Q: My first mortgage is an interest-only loan. Am I eligible to receive assistance from any of the Keep Your Home California programs?
A: Yes, first mortgage interest-only loans are eligible for assistance from the following Keep Your Home California programs - Unemployment Mortgage Assistance, Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance and Transition Assistance. First mortgage interest-only loans are ineligible for Principal Reduction Program assistance, unless the interest-only feature has converted to a fully amortizing loan or will be converted to a fully amortizing loan if Principal Reduction Program assistance is combined with a servicer-provided loan modification.
