A program designed to help homeowners facing loss of their houses has been expanded to Maryland.Money Management International, a nonprofit housing counseling agency, has received a $1 million grant from HSBC-North America, a financial services company.
Through MMI's Home Preservation and Savings Education Strategy Program, qualifying applicants can receive a grant of up to $5,000 to be used to pay on delinquent mortgages.
Jeanine Lipka, a manager for MMI, said there is no income or home price qualification, but each application is taken on a case by case basis.
"We are looking for clients who have had delinquencies on their payments due to a temporary problem, and that problem has to have been solved," she said.
The client also has to prove that they can continue ownership if they receive the grant, she said.
The applicant first calls 800-762-2271 or visits at www.mmiphases.com to set up a scheduled session with a counselor.
The local office is at the Fairview Center on West Seventh Street.
Appointments must be scheduled, Lipka said.
The counselor will meet with the clients for about an hour, discussing not only the house issue, but other debts, living expenses and related factors, according to officials.
"They have to have a balanced budget and have resolved the issue that forced them into delinquency on the house," Lipka said.
If the counselor sees the client as a potential recipient of the grant, the applicant goes through additional educational counseling.
Once the grant is presented, the client meets during the next year at three-month, six-month and 12-month sessions.
"We want to keep in touch with them and make sure there are no more delinquencies and everything is going OK," she said.
The goal, Lipka said, is not just to help the client keep a house, but also to improve their credit score.
The program, launched in July in five states, now includes 15.
"To date we have given 50 grants totaling $200,000," Lipka said.
Although based in Phoenix, Ariz., Lipka's MMI office oversees the program.
"Owning a home is the American dream and the last thing we want is for families to see their dream disappear," said Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in a statement.
HUD approved the MMI program.
In another statement, Tom Detelich, president of the Consumer and Mortgage Lending Division of HSBC-North America, said the financial firm is committed to working with families faced with unforeseen circumstances that threaten their home ownership.
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