Jobless Oregon homeowners can apply for mortgage help

Oregon Housing and Community Services announced Monday that the Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative (OHSI) is reopening a mortgage payment assistance program for Oregon homeowners receiving unemployment benefits.

The Mortgage Payment Assistancae Unemployment program (MPAU) is designed to help unemployed homeowners avoid foreclosure while they seek new employment. Eligible homeowners may receive assistance to cover up to 12 months of mortgage payments, up to a maximum of $20,000.

Basic eligibility requirements of the MPAU program include:

Applicant is receiving unemployment insurance at the time of application Applicant does not own other residential property Applicant is not in active bankruptcy

Applications will be accepted until Sept. 30, 2019. Interested homeowners should visit www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org for information on the application process including an eligibility checklist, application document checklist and FAQs.

To date, OHSI programs have provided over $265 million to help over 15,000 Oregon homeowners stay in their homes. OHSI offers several other programs to help struggling homeowners including:

Help for those on a fixed income struggling to pay their mortgage Help with property tax payments, including those with a reverse mortgage Help with past due mortgage payments for those who can demonstrate they can pay their mortgage post-assistance.