(Columbus-November 4, 2010 ) The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) will administer $570 million in federal foreclosure prevention funding to help Ohio families dealing with a permanent or temporary loss of income though Restoring Stability: A Save the Dream Ohio Initiative. MORPC is participating as a HUD-approved housing counseling agency by counseling families who are facing foreclosure and helping them apply for assistance through this new initiative.

Restoring Stability aims to assist 46,000 Ohio homeowners who have experienced a financial hardship and are currently at-risk of mortgage loan default or foreclosure.

• Rescue Payment Assistance: Provides a payment to a participating homeowner's mortgage servicer to help bring the homeowner current on his or her delinquent mortgage.
• Partial Mortgage Payment Assistance: Provides partial mortgage payments while unemployed homeowners search for a job or participate in job training.
• Modification Assistance with Principal Reduction: Provides a payment incentive to mortgage servicers to reduce a participating homeowner's mortgage principal to the level necessary to achieve a loan modification and affordable monthly mortgage payments.
• Transitional Assistance: Provides homeowners who cannot sustain homeownership with an alternative to foreclosure by offering an incentive to mortgage servicers to complete short sales and deed-in-lieu agreements. Transitional Assistance allows homeowners to exit their homes gracefully.

Restoring Stability was developed by OHFA in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Commerce and the Save the Dream Ohio partners. It is designed to help those who are unemployed or those who may be facing foreclosure for other reasons. To apply, visit the Save the Dream website and sign up for the Restoring Stability program at www.ohiohome.org/restoringstability, www.savethedream.ohio.gov or contact MORPC's housing department at (614) 233-4177 or email homeownership@morpc.org.

Once registered, the person will be confidentially assigned to a HUD-approved housing counseling agency who will work with their lender and OHFA to qualify them for foreclosure prevention assistance.

Kathy Werkmeister, MORPC's Director of Housing and Community Services, stresses the importance of seeking help as soon as you face default on your mortgage. "There is foreclosure help available, but the sooner that you seek assistance, the more likely it is that you can avoid foreclosure and keep your home. Foreclosure is a very difficult process to navigate, but there is plenty of help available and it is free. There is no need to pay for foreclosure counseling. Contact a HUD-approved housing counselor for more information," states Werkmeister.

MORPC is a voluntary association of 47 local governments in central Ohio serving the region through planning, direct service, public policy information and innovative programming and intergovernmental coordinating services in the areas of transportation, land use, energy conservation, the environment and housing.