On April 16, NeighborWorks America announced that $59.5 million in National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program funding has been awarded to 35 state housing finance agencies, 15 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries, and 81 community-based NeighborWorks organizations to provide counseling to families and individuals facing the threat of foreclosure. A list of grantees is posted on www.nw.org/nfmc. More than 937,500 families in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam have received foreclosure counseling since the NFMC Program began in January 2008. It is estimated that an additional 155,000 families facing the threat of foreclosure will be directly assisted with this fourth round of funding. The need for these funds is critical at a time when foreclosures continue to rise and the challenges of increasing unemployment rates and falling home values are not abating. Demand for these funds far exceeded the amount of funds available; eligible applicants requested over $195 million in grant funds. A cap was placed on the amount of funds any one applicant could request; without this cap, the requested amount would have been much higher.
In total, more than 1,300 nonprofit counseling agencies and local NeighborWorks organizations across the country are expected to be engaged in the NFMC Program as a result of these awards. These organizations provide invaluable, free assistance to families at risk of losing their homes, screen clients for eligibility for the Making Home Affordable programs, help clients understand the complex foreclosure process and identify possible courses of action so they can make informed decisions and take action.
More details on this announcement can be found in the NeighborWorks Newsroom.
