The holidays are supposed to be joyous, but for those who are having trouble making ends meet, the season can be enormously stressful.

If you’re unsure you’ll be able to make your next house payment or if you think you’ll have trouble making future payments, know that you are not alone and that the City of Wyoming is here to help you.

Step one: Contact your lender immediately to see if you can work something out. You may be surprised. True story: During the height of the Great Recession, I was unemployed and having a very hard time with my budget. I asked my bank for help, and they refinanced my mortgage at a much lower interest rate and extended the loan to 40 years. While I can’t promise your lender will do the same, it’s worth looking into. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Step two: Contact the City of Wyoming here for a list of resources that can help.

Here are some of the resources that are available to you:

Home Repair Services offers foreclosure prevention help. They have well-trained foreclosure counselors who can give you valuable information concerning your situation. A foreclosure intake pack can be downloaded here.

Home Repair Services of Kent County
1100 South Division Avenue
Grand Rapids, MI 49507
616.241.2601

Foreclosure Response
This nonprofit group connects Kent County residents with various community resources to help with immediate foreclosure questions as well as information on foreclosure prevention. Their website has easy-to-understand information about foreclosure in Michigan.

Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF)
The Inner City Christian Federation is a nonprofit corporation that believes decent housing is a basic human need and an important building block for families and communities. ICCF provides high-quality, affordable housing and services for those who would not otherwise have this opportunity. For information specific to foreclosure counseling, refer to Housing Resources/Programs.

Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA)
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) received money from the federal government in 2010 to develop programs to assist Michigan homeowners with preventing foreclosure. MSHDA developed a website where applications can be taken right online. MSHDA’s program, Step Forward, has three different ways it can assist:

Unemployment Subsidy
If you are receiving unemployment, then MSHDA may be able to pay half of your mortgage payment, up to $750, for one year.

Rescue Fund
If you are delinquent and just need your mortgage brought current so you can resume normal payments, then MSHDA may be able to assist with up to $10,000 towards the delinquency.

Principal Curtailment
If your lender is willing to contribute money to pay down your principal balance so they can do a modification to lower your payment, then MSHDA may be able to match that amount dollar for dollar up to $10,000.

There are more rules and restrictions on these programs than stated above. To get more information, feel free to contact a counselor at Home Repair Services at 616.241.2601 to set up an appointment or go directly to the Step Forward Michigan website to apply.

The Federal Housing Administration also provides many ideas about how to avoid foreclosure, available FHA loans, alternate ways to dispose of your house and other housing issues.