Find help in Pennsylvania with your mortgage and stopping foreclosures

Get help with your paying your mortgage and assistance with foreclosures in all cities including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) may help. Also obtain information on other state assistance programs offered by Pennsylvania that will help you with paying other bills. Continue.

In addition to the state programs below, Philadelphia offers its own program to help with mortgages.

Mortgage Refinance Options

You can refinance to an Affordable Loan Program (REAL)

Is your interest-only mortgage or adjustable rate to reset to a much higher rate? Are you in danger of losing your home if you can’t refinance your mortgage to more affordable terms? If so, the Pennsylvania REAL program may be your answer!

The REAL program offers residents an attractive 30-year fixed rate. Because this assistance program combines 100 percent financing with flexible terms and credit underwriting, it can provide relief to homeowners who otherwise may not be eligible for typical mortgage refinance programs, and the relief should come in the form of lower mortgage bills to repay your debt.

The gross annual income of all potential borrowers can’t be higher than $120,000. Certain exceptions may apply.

• You can’t be more than 59 days past due on your existing mortgage bills and debt.
• You need to have a credit score of at least 620 or you need to meet some or all of the following conditions:
• Your current mortgage payment was adjusted in the previous 12 months to a higher interest rate or was adjusted to a fully amortized payment and you can’t have made no more than two, 30-day late payments since that adjustment. Your mortgage payment history for 12 months prior to the mortgage adjustment must show no history of late payments.
• Your credit history of other debt, such as credit cards, car loans, needs to show no more than three, 30-day late payments 12 months prior to the adjustment of your mortgage.
• You can may borrow up to 100 percent of your home's value based upon a current appraisal. The new loan may also be used to finance other outstanding loans and mortgages, with some exceptions.
• Your monthly total debt costs, such as car loans, credit cards, and installment loans may not be more than 50 percent of your total gross monthly income.

The PHFA mortgage assistance program also offers mortgage counseling that can help review your specific situation and help advise and you sort through your options.

What if I don't qualify for assistance through REAL?

If you do not qualify for mortgage assistance under the REAL program, PHFA's HERO program (below) may be able to offer assistance.

Homeowners' Equity Recovery Opportunity Loan Program (HERO)

HERO is a mortgage assistance program that is also designed to improve the financial situation of Pennsylvanians who can’t pay or afford their current mortgage bills. The HERO program will provide for up to 100 percent financing but instead of refinancing your current mortgage loan into a new mortgage, PHFA will purchase your outstanding loan directly from your current lender and then PHFA will set you up on an affordable loan repayment agreement. This program is for any borrowers who are not eligible for PHFA's REAL program above (Refinance to an Affordable Loan) or if you are not eligible for another mortgage refinance product that may be available in the general market due to credit issues or if you owe more than your home's current appraised value.

Funding for the HERO mortgage assistance program is limited. All loans are reviewed by PHFA on a case-by-case basis as the program funding levels permit.

How can HERO help you?

• The HERO assistance program provides a fixed-rate mortgage for up to 30 years for an amount that is up to 100 percent of your home's current value.
• HERO will provide borrowers with an affordable interest rate.
• If you owe more than your home's current value on your current mortgage, PHFA can negotiate with your current mortgage lender to reduce the amount you owe on your loan.
• The HERO loan can be used to pay off bills including closing costs, the current mortgage debt, prepayment penalties, and even delinquent property taxes.
• All approved participants in this program need to attend financial counseling at a PHFA-approved agency. This counseling will help increase your financial knowledge and also help you learn how to more effectively manage your bills, debt, save your money, and budget your income.

Read on to you can be eligible for assistance using HERO loan.

• The gross annual income of all potential borrowers may not exceed $120,000, however certain exceptions may apply.
• You need to have had to made an effort to satisfy your financial obligations to the best of your ability.
• You need to have stable and sufficient income to support timely repayment of the HERO loan in regular, monthly installments.
• You need to own the mortgaged property and also reside in it as your permanent residence.

Homeowners' Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP)

Thousands of Pennsylvania homeowners and families who have been faced with the possible loss of their homes through the mortgage foreclosure have received assistance and help from the Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP). This unique program, created in 1983, is the only mortgage assistance program of its kind in the country. HEMAP is a cost effective means to reduce and stop homelessness among Pennsylvanians residents. By giving the assurance of steady mortgage payments, it allows homeowners to find alternate job training, employment, and/or education when they need the help the  most. The assistance program is funded by State appropriations and repayment of existing HEMAP loans.

HEMAP is a loan program that is designed to protect Pennsylvanians who, through no fault of their own, are having difficulty or are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and if they are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. HEMAP funds loaned to residents to help prevent foreclosure are not a grant. The money provided is a loan and must be repaid.

Allegheny County Mortgage Assistance
Any homeowners in Allegheny County whose properties are about to be foreclosed by mortgage lenders will receive a bright pink card/notice along with the initial foreclosure notice. This card will provide the homeowner with a toll-free number that homeowners need to call to enroll in the mortgage assistance program. This program will then give the homeowner a court-ordered 90-day window to negotiate with the mortgage lender to try to save the property from foreclosure and negotiate new mortgage payment terms, a new interest rate, or come up with another solution.

Those people who need additional help will also be put in touch with a nonprofit housing counselor free of charge to help them to try to work out arrangements with their mortgage company. The mortgage counselor will then set up a conference under a judge's supervision to determine if they can work out an arrangement between the homeowner and mortgage lender. Existing state help may also be available.

Philadelphia Mortgage Help
Philadelphia is offering a fairly unique, one of a kind mortgage program called the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program. It forces lenders to meet with homeowners prior to foreclosing, and ensures those lenders offer various options. By the middle of 2009, of the 5,700 Philadelphia homeowners that have joined in this program, about 1,400 homes have been saved from a sheriff's sale, and over 700 others have been able to postpone sales. Learn more on the Philadelphia foreclosure mediation program. In addition to the city oh Philadelphia’s plan, the are numerous other ways to delay, if not stop, a foreclosure. More

Lehigh County foreclosure mediation
When a foreclosure notice is filed in Lehigh County, they ensure the homeowner and the bank or lender meet to discuss options to try to save the home. Continue.

Find how to get mortgage aid from Countrywide/Bank of America, which is offering mortgage assistance to Pennsylvania residents. Or find other ways to get mortgage help.