Many have probably seen the animated ad with the house running away from its owner. The ad is for the state run program Step Forward Michigan, a federally funded program designed to help homeowners facing foreclosure. A program, Kent County Treasurer Kenneth Parrish strongly supports.
“I’m a big supporter of the Step Forward Michigan program,” Parrish said during a recent news conference that brought together county treasurers for Kent, Ottawa and Kalamazoo counties along with representatives from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. THE MSHDA oversees the Step Forward Michigan program in collaboration with the Michigan Homeowner Assistance nonprofit Housing Corporation.
“Since 2010, the program has helped nearly 1,700 Kent County residents with over $15 million in loans making us the fourth largest user of the program,” Parrish said, adding that of that about $13.9 million was used to cover mortgage payments, $1.2 million for unpaid property taxes and another $15,000 for condominium payments.
Federal funded with $500 million, almost 35,000 Michigan homeowners have qualified for around $308 million in loans since the program started seven years ago. There is about $40 million left to help eligible households but the clock is ticking as the deadline to apply is 2020.
“The Step Forward Program offers great opportunities for families to stabilize their situation and to save their homes,” Parrish said. “We take no pleasure on foreclosing on homes here in Kent County. If you have fallen behind in your property tax, mortgage or condominium payments, I urge you to check out the Step Forward Michigan Program and see if you can get a load that will ultimately help you keep your home.”
Those who have been hit with a hardship – medical event, job loss or underemployment, death, divorce, one-time critical out-of-pocket expense – can get up to a $30,000 interest-free loan to get caught up on property tax, mortgage or condo payments. If the homeowner stays in the home for five years, the loan is forgiven and they do not have to pay back the loan, according to MSHDA Executive Director Earl Poleski.
To qualify for assistance, a homeowner must be a Michigan resident, have an ownership interest in the property and be able to sign a new mortgage lien on property, occupy property as his or her primary resident, have enough income to cover the mortgage, condo association fees, and/or property tax payments going forward, and have cash reserves no greater than $10,000.
Any homeowner convicted in the past 10 years on a financial-related felony, including larceny, theft, fraud, forgery, money laundering and/or tax evasion, is not eligible for the program.
A homeowner can receive a loan only once from the program. The average loan amount has been $7,383. Loan payments go directly to the county treasurers office, mortgage lender or condominium association, not to the homeowner
According to state officials, the process to find out if a home owner is eligible is easier than filling out a full mortgage application. Those interested can go to StepForwardMichigan.org and fill out the questions to see if they are eligible or call 866-946-7432.
Kent County residents can also reach out to the Inner City Christian Federation or ICCF at 616-336-9333 or the Home Repair Services of Kent County at 616-241-2601.
