New Foreclosure-Prevention Programs Available in 18 States and D.C.

Recent movements in Congress to deactivate some of the federal foreclosure-prevention programs are getting a lot of press, despite the fact that these programs are probably safe for the time being. What gets much less publicity are the billions of dollars that are still available to help distressed owners keep their homes.

But one such program, the U.S. Treasury Department's Hardest Hit Fund, is slowly but surely evolving from a political proposal to over $7.6 billion in desperately needed help for people struggling to keep their homes. Homeowners in states where home prices have dropped more than 20% from their peak and states where unemployment has hit more than 12% during the recession will be eligible to receive some of the Hardest Hit Fund money (see the list of states, along with their Hardest Hit Fund websites, below). A total of 18 states plus the District of Columbia each have their own version of the program.