More than 500 Tennesseans have been able to stay in their homes this year thanks to a new program funded by the federal government. The program is meant to help people on the edge of foreclosure.Keep My Tennessee Home may sound like a weepy country ballad, but it’s supposed to help homeowners breathe a sigh of relief by helping out with mortgage payments.
The program targets people who have a just lost their jobs, or taken a new job that doesn’t pay as much their old one. Most can get loans of up to 20,000 dollars, according to Bill Clendening of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.
“Some of them are current and trying to be proactive. Most of them, the majority of them, are behind on their mortgage. Some just one month. Some the full assistance amount of 15 to 20 thousand dollars.”
Homeowners aren’t required to pay back the money and the loan is forgiven as long as they stay in their home for at least five years. Money for the program comes from funds set aside in the 2008 bank bailouts.
While it’s supposed to be a seven year program, Clendening says it could run out of money in about four years if applications keep up at their current pace. So far, about 1,400 hundred Tennessee residents have asked for help.
Keep My Tennessee Home Website
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