RALEIGH — The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency has been awarded a $2 million grant that will enable an additional 8,000 households statewide to receive foreclosure prevention counseling.
The $2,009,013 award, from NeighborWorks America under the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program, is the second-highest award nationwide, and the eighth NFMC award won by the North Carolina agency.
So far, NFMC grants have enabled the Agency to pay for foreclosure prevention counseling services for more than 40,000 homeowners in North Carolina. The assistance is available statewide through 28 HUD-approved counseling agencies, and is provided to homeowners at no cost.
Also available to homeowners at no cost is the N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund, which makes mortgage payments for up to 36 months for qualified unemployed homeowners while they look for a job or retrain. Nearly 16,000 North Carolinians have received assistance so far. The N.C. Housing Finance Agency received funding for this effort from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury because of North Carolina’s high unemployment during the recession.
For information and a list of local counseling agencies offering assistance, homeowners can go to www.NCForeclosurePrevention.gov or call 888-623-8631.