Arizona to receive $125M in mortgage aid

The Arizona Housing Finance Authority will receive $125 million in federal money through the Hardest Hit Fund created by the Obama Administration.

In Arizona the money will be disbursed in three ways, according to the Arizona Department of Housing division:

Financial assistance will be provided in the form of principal reduction, interest rate reduction and/or term extension programs with the goal of securing permanent loan modifications.

In situations where a second mortgage is preventing homeowners from modifying the first mortgage, money will be provided to eliminate the second lien and therefore providing a path to permanent loan modification.

The state also will provide money for people who are unemployed or underemployed and cannot make their current mortgage payments. Those payments would give the distressed homeowner time to find a new job and resume paying their mortgages.

The announcement today says, four other states will receive federal a total of $1.5 billion: California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada.

“These states have identified a number of innovative programs that will make a real difference in the lives of many homeowners facing foreclosure,” said U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Herbert M. Allison Jr. in a press release.

Five other states will receive about $600 million for housing assistance programs in the near future: North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Read more: Arizona to receive $125M in mortgage aid - Phoenix Business Journal