The Obama administration has just announced that they will extend another $3 billion in aid to support foreclosure prevention programs and that a third of that money will go directly to unemployed homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure. The current loan modification programs have failed to prevent foreclosures because of unmotivated mortgage servicers but also because of the high rate of long-term unemployment. Right now, the number one cause of foreclosure is unemployment. The unemployment rate is currently at 9.5 percent and many of those unemployed individuals remain unemployed for a year or more. The current foreclosure prevention plans that rely on mortgage modification usually only offer a three month forbearance period designed to give debtors an opportunity to find work and qualify for the program. However, three months is not enough time in an economy that leaves workers unemployed for nearly two years in many cases. The new program will offer bridge loans to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure. The loans will be no-interest, allows the homeowner to borrow up to $50,000 and can last as long as 24 years. However, the loans may not be widely available. Right now there is a plan to give the aid to only those metropolitan areas hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. But some homeowner advocates say that focusing on only metropolitan areas could leave out many smaller cities and rural communities who have also been devastated by the foreclosure crisis. The other concern is that homeowners will not have enough time to secure work that has a living wage before they are forced to pay back the loan. It is so important that homeowners facing foreclosure be given enough time to find work that pays enough, not just any job that allows only a subsistence level of survival.
