For release: January 19, 2011
SC HELP Foreclosure Prevention Program Now Available Statewide
Almost $300 million in funds to keep homeowners in their homes.
[Columbia, SC] Following a successful pilot program and Treasury’s approval of South Carolina’s readiness assessment, SC Housing Corp. will take its foreclosure prevention program statewide. Starting January 20, the South Carolina Homeownership and Employment Lending Program (SC HELP) will use almost $300 million in federal funds to help responsible but struggling homeowners in the state.
Key components for SC HELP include:
- Monthly Payment Assistance-assisting homeowners with monthly payments for a defined period of time while they seek employment and a return to self sustainability.
- Direct Loan Assistance-for borrowers who have experienced a hardship but have regained the ability to pay. Funds can be used to pay arrearages in order to bring the loan current.
- Property Disposition Assistance-in cases where the mortgage cannot be salvaged, funds may be provided to incentivize short sales, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure and to help transition families from homeownership to rental housing.
Homeowners applying for Monthly Payment Assistance or Direct Loan Assistance must meet certain threshold requirements in order to apply for help:
1. Borrower or co-borrower must be able to document that the delinquency was a result of a hardship event beyond his/her control (i.e. unemployment, death of a spouse, catastrophic medical expenses, etc.)
2. Mortgage payments must have been made on time for 12 months preceding the hardship event with no more than two 30-day late occurrences
3. The property securing the mortgage must be owner-occupied as a full-time residence
4. Borrower must provide a financial hardship affidavit
5. Mortgage can be no more than 120 days delinquent
6. Loan servicer/investor must be willing to accept payments and provide required data and reporting
Assistance from SC HELP will be provided in the form of a nonrecourse zero-percent interest, non-amortizing, forgivable loan secured by a subordinate lien on the subject property. The loan will be forgiven over a five-year period at a rate of 20% per year. If property is sold or refinanced prior to the loan termination date, funds will be recovered should sufficient equity be available from the transaction. The Property Disposition Assistance Program will provide a one time, lump sum grant to the recipient.
Additional criteria and documentation requirements must be met for final eligibility determination. Homeowners wishing to make an application should apply online at www.SCMortgageHelp.com. SC HELP officials emphasize that using the online application is the fastest and most efficient way to begin the process. Homeowners without internet access may call toll-free to 855-HELP-4-SC (855 435-7472) to begin the process.
SC HELP is intended to assist responsible borrowers – those borrowers who are facing possible foreclosure due to circumstances beyond their control, i.e. unemployment, death of a spouse, catastrophic medical expenses and/or divorce. SC HELP is NOT intended to serve borrowers who are facing foreclosure due to poor credit and/or debt management, stripping the equity from their home for non-essential purposes, or overall mismanagement of their personal budget.
Additional information, background and resources are now posted on SC State Housing’s website, as well as www.SCMortgageHelp.com, and will be updated frequently.
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SC Housing Corp. is a nonprofit division of the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC State Housing).
Filed under Announcements, Carolina Real Estate, Foreclosed Houses, Fort Mill SC, Home Sellers, Rock Hill SC, Sell Your Home, Tega Cay SC by 
With so many incentives to buy a home, now is by no doubt, the time to buy. With lenders tightening their guidelines, you might want to be sure you have your finances in check.
With brand new federal regulations, this will help you understand how it will benefit you and tame your credit card debt. The bad news, is because of this government intervention you might have already seen a rise in your interest rates. This is from Red Book Magazine
1. They can’t raise interest rates on debt you’ve already racked up. They can if you are more than 60 days late on these payments. So pay your cards on time!
2. If your card charges you different interest rates (say, 14% for existing balances, and 2% for balance transfers), they must apply your payments to the debt carrying the highest rates first. So the faster you pay it off, the more money you save.
3. They can’t raise your rates if they find out you’ve been late on other credit cards or loans. This doesn’t mean you credit score will not be affected, which can eventually lead to higher interest rates. Your best bet is just to pay it on time.
4. You can no longer go over your credit limit and be charged the subsequent fees- unless you notify your credit card company in writing that you’d like to spend more than your limit. So don’t spend more than your limit.
5. They will tell you on your bill how long it will take to pay off your debt and how much it will cost you, including interest, if you pay only the minimum each month. This will be an eye opener, and a hard lesson for many. Pay more than the minimum or you could possible pay on this card longer than your house mortgage.
6. Those under 21years old won’t be able to get a credit card unless they show proof of income or get an adult to cosign. I think this is the smartest law of all! When I was in college, you would sign your life away for a free t-shirt or can coozie. All adults over the age of 21 take note…DON’T COSIGN
Generally, when real estate owners start selling property, a fast and efficient sale is just as important as acquiring a profit. There are several tips out there on how to sell quickly but they may not be for you. Some methods for a quick sale may be too costly or just not something you are willing to do. This article covers just a few of the tips out there such as staging, quality photographs, and companies that purchase homes.
You ask, I can sell my house immediately?
A lot of people are convinced that properly staging your home is the best way to sell your home quickly and if money is not an issue, you want to consider hiring a professional stager. They will go through your home and analyze what needs to be done and then do it. Sometimes this can just be eliminating clutter. Other times this can entail a fresh coat of paint or redecorating.
In some instances a stager may recommend that you remodel a portion of your home, but the level of staging that you undergo really depends on your budget and the amount of time you have available to put the house on the market.
Another way of selling your house quick is to make sure that it is marketed with lots of quality pictures. With a lot of houses on the market, buyers can find themselves overwhelmed with the amount of property to look at.
Often time is of the essence for the buyer as well. They do not want to waste their time looking at homes that they are not interested in. As a result, hiring a photographer to take quality interior and exterior photographs can ensure that the buyers who come to look at the house are really interested and not there just to get a better look.
Taking several pictures of the exterior as well as shots of all the interior rooms is the best way to go about it. The buyer can have a virtual tour of the house through the pictures. If they are interested it is certain that the level of interest is much higher and can eliminate timely revisits.
If you are thinking about selling your Fort Mill SC home, Sharon Salisbury has the knowledge, experience, and ability to help you get a quick sale for top dollar!
Filed under Home Sellers, Marketing, Sell Your Home by
In July, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 1.2 percent from June’s number to a reading of 143.05. Although home prices are still 13.3 percent below last July’s figures a year ago, the study also shows that the annual declines have slowed in all 20 cities for the sixth straight month.
Now, although this is certainly some encouraging news, home prices overall are still down roughly 33% from the numbers from mid-July 2006. So while we are starting to see some improvements in the housing market overall, there’s still a very long way to go before things are completely back.
The report shows that with the exception of the Las Vegas, Detroit, and Seattle areas home prices are rising across the country and I would say that that’s the trend I’m seeing here in the Fort Mill SC and Rock Hill SC area.
Yes, it’s still very much a buyer’s market, but you can slowly see home prices starting to increase ever so slightly. We’ve been very fortunate in that home prices never really took the nose dive experienced by other markets, but home buyer confidence is certainly returning which in turn means homes are selling closer to asking price than previously.
Hopefully this trend will continue, not just in the Fort Mill SC area, but nationwide as well. Home sales has always been a bit of a barometer of how well the economy is doing so the better the home market is, the better off our economy is!
Filed under Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Market Trends, News Reports by
Thinking about selling your Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC home? If so, it’s important to make sure your home appeals to the buyers that will be coming through your house.
Here’s a quick video that shares some simple home staging tips that can help you sell your home faster:
Filed under Decorating Ideas, Home Sellers by
