Mississippi Home Corporation Announces Shut Down of the Mississippi Homesaver Program
The Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) will cease taking new applications for the MS Homesaver Program December 31, 2019 in preparation of the program shutdown. The MS Homesaver Program, a federally funded initiative, has helped thousands of MS families facing foreclosure remain in their homes. Homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages are encouraged to apply for mortgage payment assistance before the application deadline of December 31, 2019. Interested homeowners can apply online at mshomesaver.com and will be connected to a local housing counseling agency who will answer questions, prescreen for eligibility and assist homeowners in with the application process and submitting required documentation.
“Homesaver has provided much-needed assistance to Mississippians who got behind on their mortgage and were in danger of foreclosure,” explained Scott Spivey, Executive Director of MHC. “The assistance lets eligible homeowners stay in their home while they work to regain employment and financial stability. I would stress to anyone struggling to make their mortgage payment to apply before the deadline.”
In 2010, the Mississippi unemployment rate was at 11.1%. The MS Homesaver Program, which launched in 2011, was created as part of the federal Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), a program of the U.S. Department of the Treasury targeted to states with high rates of home price declines and unemployment. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia received the funds. Mississippi Home Corporation, the state housing finance agency was chosen to administer these funds and originally received $101.9 million. In May 2016 and January 2018, Mississippi Home Corporation received additional funding of $42.5 million bringing the net funding received to over $144.4 million. The program provided mortgage payment assistance to over 4,500 Mississippi families and preserved as much as $430 million in home mortgage value.
“The unemployment rate for MS as of June 2019 was down to 5% and the number of Mississippians working was the highest in history,” stated Ben Mokry, EVP & Chief Strategy Officer at MHC. “Thankfully, Mississippi families today have a much lower risk of losing their home because they lost a job. HHF expires in 2021. With the end of the program nearing, MHC will focus on another approved use of HHF, providing funds to communities to demolish and green blighted and abandoned residential housing.”