Illinois Hardest Hit Program - Save Your Home - $25K Grant to Pay Mortgage Arrears

For anyone who hasn't heard, here's the news...there's a new program on the block for saving your home.  And for some people, it's a hit.

Looking for unbiased help in figuring out how to save your home?  Check out the following housing organizations. Click on the Link.  I have worked with all of them for years and know of their honesty and fair dealing:

• Rogers Park Community Housing
• Latin United Community Housing (LUCHA)
• Spanish Coalition for Housing
• Illinois Housing Development Authority

The Illinois Hardest Hit Program essentially gets your home out of foreclosure.  Pays all the arrears, court costs, etc. to reinstate your loan fully and then provides up to 18 months of payment assistance.  The cap on the assistance is $25,000.

To apply for this program, please go to (click link):  Illinois Hardest Hit Program

Pro's:

• No Fees
• Completely Reinstates Your Mortgage 
• Up to 18 months assistance

Con's:

• Increases the mortgage balance on your home by up to $25,000
• Does not reduce the total amount owed on your home
• Does not provide assistance after 18 months which is a problem if a person has not secured employment or their family is only partially employed.

Who are the best candidates for this program:

• Homeowners who are only temporarily out of work and can easily return to work in a stable job within 18 month of starting the program.
• Homeowners whose mortgage has less than $15,000 in arrears or is about 6 months or less behind
• Homeowner who want to stay in their house for 10 years or more and does not care about having the flexibilty to move....for say a new job, changed family circumstances (divorce) or any other matter

Who are the worst candidates for this program:

• Homeowners who haven't made a mortgage payment for over one year
• Homeowners who are in a profession that has been affected by the severe economic downturn such as construction or union jobs and are unlikely to have stable employment for the next five years
• Homeowners who want the ability to be flexible in selling their home in the next 10 years.

Who should consider a short sale of their home instead of this program:

• Homeowners who cannot afford their home even when they are fully employed
• Homeowners who are in an employment industry that will not recover soon and may need to relocate for employment
• Homeowners who have so much debt on their home that they will not have equity for ten years or more (typically someone with two or more mortgages including a home equity line of credit)

Who should consider a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy instead of all of these options?

• Homeowners who have unsecured debt (credit card style debt) that exceeds more than 1/3 of their annual take home pay.
• Homeowners who have not made a mortgage payment in over one year
• Homeowners who have not been able to get a short sale approved by their lender
• Homeowners who want to easily walk away from a home to simply move-on or need to relocate for employment
• Homeowners who are insolvent - that is - no real assets outside of retirement accounts

When is a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Reorganization a  better than the Illinois Hardest Hit Program?

• When a mortgage debt is more than 6 months in arrears (no payment for at least 6 months or longer
• When the homeowners property has more than one mortgage such as a second mortgage or home equity line of credit
• When the homeowner has equity or something valuable to save in the property but also has a large amount of unsecured debt (credit card style)
• When the total home mortgage debt can be reduced through "stripping off the second and junior mortgages/liens".