- Foreclosure numbers continue to increase
- Obama government announces new round of aid
- North Carolina to $159 million
- South Carolina to get $139 million
- Based on unemployment estimates
- Funds to be channeled through state agencies
There were an estimated 2.8 million foreclosures in America during 2009, and this number could reach 3.5 million for 2010 according to RealtyTrac Inc. This could have the makings of a national disaster and the American Government is moving fast to stem the tide.
North and South Carolina are both set to benefit from a $600 million aid package released by the Obama administration on Monday, reflecting the President’s ongoing determination to break the cycle of unemployment and foreclosures in North and South Carolina, as well as California, Florida, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. A healthy 50% of this money goes to the two Carolinas in the latest indication that foreclosures have spread from sub-prime borrowers to ordinary Americans who are out of work.
This has been confirmed by Communications Manager Charlene Cromwell at the Centre for Responsible Lending in Durham NC. “We previously thought we were up against the effects of sum-prime loans” she said. “But now we’ve realized that the surge in unemployment has kicked in and that we have to do something about it. Even a little amount of aid will make a difference, especially at a time when so many North Carolinians are in need of assistance.”
This aid is a continuation of the $1.5 billion announced on Friday for the worst hit states in terms of housing price falls including Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. Although intended to reduce the quantum of distressed loans in order to provide temporary respite to unemployed home owners, the jury is still out on whether the government is not perhaps simply propping up irresponsible borrowers.
Director Margaret Matrone of the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency declined to comment further. “Our mission is to provide affordable housing options to our residents” she said. “But it’s just too early to say exactly what we are going to do with this windfall, for at least a further two weeks. We already have several other foreclosure prevention programs up and running, which could be a clue as to our likely intentions”.
One of these programs, which has already received $6.5 million in federal aid assists with loan repayments during periods of unemployment or retraining, while a second provides counseling support to distressed home owners.
The quantum of the federal allocations was based on the number of residents in Counties showing over 12% unemployment. In North Carolina the unemployment rate in February was 11.2% overall, with over half the Counties peeping out over the 12% criteria. South Carolina’s rates for the same period were not to hand at the time of writing, however with a 10.5% delinquency rate for the last quarter of 2009 the state can’t be that far behind, especially judging by the size of its award.
Other states that were beneficiaries of the $600 million dollar relief program announced on Monday included Ohio ($172 million), Oregon ($88 million) and Rhode Island ($43 million).
Need More Help?
You could try the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency or the Home Foreclosure Project.
Better still, you could speak to the experts at www.foreclosuredatabank.com. They’ll help you decide what’s best.
Follow us:
Written by Alex Rolim.
