Today’s economy has many people worried that they will not be able to make their mortgage payments. Over 6 million people in the United States have missed at least two payments on their mortgage and analysts believe that over the next three years there will be over 10 million people that will be fighting to keep their homes from foreclosure.

The state of Ohio is no different than the rest of the country, but there is help available to those people that need it. Recently the Ohio Housing Financing Agency received 172 million dollars designated for foreclosure prevention. This money may reach up to 15,000 home owners that need help keeping their homes. This aid will help home owners in danger of losing their home to foreclosure by actually paying the homes mortgage for up to a year while the home owners try to find better ways to pay. This includes looking for full time or better paying jobs, but the assistance will also be geared to help entice mortgage lenders to lower borrowers overall bill. This is the second round of mortgage assistance that has been made available to home owners. Last year 1.1 million people applied for mortgage assistance, but as of today only 170,000 people have completed the program.

There are some stipulations for using this government aid; homeowners must be at least 3 months past due on their mortgage payments and not have a mortgage above the amount of 729,750 and you must be able to show that you are in a financial hardship. You must also be able to show that you have reasonable likelihood that you will be able to start making your payments again within two years time. You may not own a second home and must be the primary resident of the property in question; lastly your payment records will be brought into question. You will need to be able to show that your payments were being met before your financial hardship began. If you would like to know how to apply for mortgage aid contact your mortgage lender as well as your local HUD (housing and urban development) office. These two agencies will be able to assist you in filing the proper paperwork and being helping you get your mortgage back in good standing. Another useful source is  www.financialstability.gov which can answer a lot of questions you may have. Look out for our next article on Ohio Mortgage Help.