The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) is expanding the criteria for eligibility for the Keep Your Home California programs, in a effort to help more families keep their homes. Many low to moderate income California homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgages may be able to keep their homes through the assistance of these programs, avoiding foreclosure and keeping neighborhoods together.

The programs, approved by the U.S. Treasury, may offer additional services to homeowners who have refinanced or accessed equity lines of credit in their homes.  Those services include: Unemployment Mortgage Assistance, Transition Assistance, and Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance. The mortgage assistance for unemployed homeowners who are dangerously close to defaulting on their loans, provides up to $3,000 per month in payment assistance.

The mortgage reinstatement program will provide struggling homeowners with up to $15,000 to reinstate their mortgages, preventing foreclosure.  Finally, for those homeowners who have completed short sales or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will benefit from the relocation assistance program. Keep Your Home California was initiated throughout the state of California in February with the goal of reducing the number of foreclosures.

The funding for Keep Your Home California comes from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Fund, and more than 2,000 California homeowners are currently in the process of getting help through one of the programs.

Those who wish to apply for assistance can call toll free 888-954-KEEP (5337).

For more information, visit KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org. -