Keep my Tennessee Home - Tennessee's Hardest Hit Fund

I have been asked and have agreed to serve on the Realtor Advisory Board for the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA). I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with THDA in streamling current programs and developing future programs to assist low to moderate income home buyers in Tennessee. THDA offers many programs to assist low to moderate income home buyers and existing home owners through downpayment assistance programs, home owner education classes, foreclosure prevention assistance, etc.

Following is information about one of those programs you may not be familiar with. If you have experienced a job loss or substantial pay decrease and are having difficulty meeting your mortgage obligations, there may be help through THDA and the Keep My Tennessee Home - Tennessee's Hardest Hit Fund program. The following information outlines the program and qualifications necessary to be considered for the program. If you or someone you know needs assistance and feel these qualifications are met, please contact me and I will have a loan officer who is participating in the program contact you.

http://www.thda.org/

The Keep My Tennessee Home - Tennessee’s Hardest Hit Fund program provides loans to unemployed or substantially underemployed homeowners who, through no fault of their own, are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. Tennessee is one of 18 states plus the District of Columbia that are receiving Hardest Hit Funds due to having an unemployment rate that is higher than the national average. The Keep My Tennessee Home program will make homeowners’ payments on their mortgage and mortgage related expenses such as property taxes, homeowner insurance, homeowner association dues,and/or past-due mortgage payments that accumulated during a period of unemployment. The Hardest Hit Fund is being administered in Tennessee by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA).

Homeowners who qualify for financial assistance may receive up to 18 months of monthly mortgage payments and/or funds to pay past due mortgage payments to bring the mortgage current; these funds are paid directly to the loan servicer/lender.

To qualify for the Keep My Tennessee Home program, a homeowner must meet the following eligibility requirements and the homeowner’s servicer must be participating in the Keep My Tennessee Home program:

• Be unemployed or underemployed (a 30% reduction of income) through no fault of their own. The event or incident which results in unemployment or substantial underemployment must have occurred after Jan. 1, 2008.
• Have a mortgage for a single-family home or condominium (attached or detached) in Tennessee that they occupy as their primary residence. This includes manufactured homes on foundations permanently affixed to real estate that they own.
• The combined amount of your mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance must be greater than 31% of your household income after the job loss/reduction of income.
• Not have more than six months' reserves of liquid assets, that is, liquid assets equal to six months of their mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance.
• Have a household income less than $74,980.
• Have a total unpaid principal balance not exceeding $226,100.

Above are the basic eligibility criteria. Meeting these criteria does not guarantee eligibility for the Keep My Tennessee Home program.

NOTICE: If anyone seeks to charge you a fee to help you with applying for assistance from this program, please report this immediately to your local counseling provider and/or the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

For more information on this program or others, feel free to contact me or visit the THDA website at http://www.thda.org/.