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Homeowners in Canton, Plymouth and all Michigan cities may be able to breath a little sigh of relief. The state housing authority and lenders have joined forces to offer new tools to help some families save homes from the ravages of foreclosure.
Yesterday, April 2, 2008 Governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed legislation aimed at preserving the American dream of home-ownership for Michigan families in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure. The governor was joined by lenders from the Michigan Credit Union League, the Michigan Bankers Association, and sponsoring legislators from across the state for bill signings in Grand Rapids, Jackson, and Detroit.
"These new tools will help protect families from losing their homes and work to stabilize Michigan’s housing market," Granholm said. "I applaud the leadership of our legislators and our many partners in the lending community, including bankers, credit union lenders, and mortgage lenders, for making these tools a reality."
The bills signed today create two new refinancing options to protect home ownership – an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) refinancing option that will help citizens get into fixed-rate mortgages and a "rescue" program that helps those who have been behind in their payments in the past, but are current now. The new tools are part of the "Save the Dream" initiative that makes housing counselors available to homeowners and raises awareness about avoiding foreclosure. The Save the Dream products and programs are operated and funded entirely by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).
"We believe our Save the Dream program will help curtail the foreclosures happening throughout our Michigan communities," MSHDA Director of Homeownership Mary Townley said. "This new legislation gives us an important tool to add to our existing home-ownership counseling and foreclosure prevention activity. Putting the counseling together with the ability to refinance home loans for safer, more secure long-term, fixed-rate mortgages offers a sense of real hope to some very desperate homeowners."
The new Save the Dream tools are:
– The Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) Refinance Program that will assist homeowners who have an ARM in refinancing to a 30-year, lower-interest, fixed-rate conventional loan;
– The Rescue Refinance Program that will assist individuals who have a delinquency on their mortgage and who are at risk of losing their home will have a chance to get into a more affordable 30-year, fixed rate, conventional loan.
For more details on the Save the Dream refinance programs and other services, a visit to www.michigan.gov/mshda will take seekers to MSHDA’s home page and the Save the Dream icon where up-to-date information about the loans, services, and MSHDA-approved lenders and certified counselors is available. There is also a consumer hotline that helps callers find a counselor locally. That toll-free number is 1-866-946-7432.
MSHDA is not a new department of the Michigan government. In fact we have been putting families into homes under MSDA financing for the last few decades. Not all homes will qualify. As an example, if you owe more on your present mortgage than the home can appraise for you may not be able to qualify for this program. Yet there are many ways to work an application package to MSHDA to help the home qualify. This new legislation will also add more flexibility to adjustable rate financing.
Call us at 734-459-2600 or email at leebittinger@remax.net to get a free Bittinger Team report that will help you understand this valuable program.
Have you had experiences with MSHDA? Any other government financing? Your comments below may help someone in need.
When every other program out there prevented my buyer from purchasing her first home a very frustrated buyer was the outcome, the MSHDA program was able to bring it together.
This was the best program for this particualr buyer, and she will be able to enjoy her very first home as a result of MSHDA!