SC HELP Aids more than 10,000 South Carolina homeowners avoid foreclosure

South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program (SC HELP), a foreclosure-prevention program initiated to keep responsible homeowners from losing their homes, reports that more than 10,000 South Carolina homeowners have used the program’s funding to avoid preventable foreclosure through October 31, 2015.

Since the program launched in 2011, SC HELP has:

• Approved and funded 10,087 eligible South Carolina homeowners.
• Dispersed a total of $154,427,883.
• Committed additional funds for more homeowners at a total of $25,644,745.
• More than 98 percent of homeowners assisted thus far have continued to avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes.

Initiated through funding by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and a program of the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC Housing) in 2011, SC HELP provides mortgage-payment assistance for responsible homeowners who are falling behind on mortgage payments due to circumstances beyond their control. Circumstances include unemployment, underemployment, a significant reduction in self-employment income, catastrophic illness, divorce or death of a spouse.

When the program began in 2011, homeowners in South Carolina could apply for nearly $295 million in Hardest Hit Funds, funds that were provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury from a $50 billion fund allocated to the administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the housing component of the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP). South Carolina qualified for this assistance because of the state’s high, sustained rates of unemployment, which at the time, averaged higher than 12 percent statewide.

“In four years, SC HELP has helped more than 10,000 South Carolina homeowners prevent foreclosure and stay in their homes,” said Valarie M. Williams, executive director of SC Housing. “Though unemployment and underemployment numbers are at lower levels than in recent years, there are still families facing the ramifications of losing jobs in recent years and using savings to stay afloat. Families keeping their homes is good for all South Carolinians as it keeps our state’s neighborhoods and property values intact.” Available SC HELP assistance includes:

• Reinstatement Assistance: Helps to pay arrearages and bring the loan current.
• Monthly Payment Assistance: Assists homeowners with monthly payments for a period of time while they seek employment and return to self-sustainability.
• Modification Assistance: Provides funding to help homeowners qualify for and obtain loan modifications from their primary lenders.
• Transition Assistance: Provides funding to assist families as they transition from homeownership in cases where the mortgage cannot be salvaged and the homeowner is able to negotiate a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Based on current trends, SC HELP foresees committing all available funding before the expiration of the program. While SC HELP has benefitted more than 10,000 homeowners since its initiation in 2011, the program would like to assist even more homeowners. To meet this end, SC HELP is still accepting applications from homeowners who feel that they may meet program requirements.

For more information about SC HELP, visit SCHELP.gov or call 855.435.7472.