TIPS: Keep Your Home by Applying to New Jersey Home Keeper Program

By Barbara Perone
You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that constant, extended unemployment may = foreclosure.
If you are in danger of losing your home due to: unemployment, underemployment, or lack of business while self-employed, you may be eligible to apply for a state-run mortgage assistance program.
One such program, The New Jersey Home Keeper Program (NJHKP), offers homeowners up to $48,000 in zero interest, deferred payment, forgivable second mortgage loans, for up to 24 months.
Once accepted into the program, qualified homeowners can use the money to pay for  current mortgage payments (including principal, interest and taxes), back payments (arrears) or both.
To qualify:

  • You must already be delinquent in your mortgage payments, or, become delinquent within 90 days of the filing of the NJHKP loan application and you must not be involved in any bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Your bank/mortgage company must be enrolled in the program and you must have very few available savings or financial resources that equal no more than nine months worth of your mortgage payments.
  • Your home must be your primary residence that is either:

o   A one or two unit residential property
o   An attached or detached house
o   A condominium or manufactured house built on a permanent foundation on a real property and secured by a mortgage lien.
To apply for assistance, visit www.NJHomeKeeper.gov or call  877-496-4951.

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