Success Story: David S.
Homeowner David S. has battled a bad economy, the hard-hit housing market and a gloomy jobs outlook – just like many Californians.
But David, who has owned his condominium in the Park Mesa neighborhood in San Diego for 10 years, is committed to keeping his home and finding a job, even in a new profession.
He applied for a loan modification through his mortgage lender, with no luck after an exhausting and lengthy effort. He made larger-than-required payments for a few months to lower the mortgage principal and show his dedication to homeownership. And even during the most difficult months financially, David made at least half of the monthly mortgage payment.
Still, the long-term unemployed professional was facing the grim reality of losing his condo.
Then, David applied for Keep Your Home California in mid-April. His commitment and attention to detail – he has three, 3-inch thick binders of financial and mortgage-related paperwork – paid off in June when he was approved for the state-run mortgage assistance program.
Keep Your Home California, funded by the federal government’s Hardest Hit Fund®, made his mortgage payments in July, August and September, and will likely continue through the end of the year.
“I’m very grateful for the program,” David says. His application was a bit more complicated than most, especially since he had a commission-only job for a brief period that created a hiccup with the state Employment Development Department and much slower-than-average processing by his mortgage servicer.
But the end result was well worth the effort and allows him to concentrate on finding a job – and possibly a new career.
“They’re trying to find you suitable time to find employment,” says David, a former director of sales and senior associate for an audio visual company. “I don’t have to worry about the risk of losing my home while looking for employment.”
David encourages other out-of-work homeowners to look into the Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program, which has about $875 million in funding. Keep Your Home California expects to help about 60,500 homeowners with the program, with average funding of $14,455.
“It’s a horrible … terrible feeling” to face the possibility of losing your home, David says. “Time is what this program has given me.”
“I think everybody is trying to figure out what is next” with the economy and the housing market, he says. “When there is a happy ending, this program will be what saved me.”
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