FHA extends foreclosure time for unemployed

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Federal Housing Administration under an initiative from the White House will extend the foreclosure period for homeowners who have lost their jobs from four months to a year.

“The current unemployment forbearance programs have mandatory periods that are inadequate for the majority of unemployed borrowers,” U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said.

“Today, 60 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than three months and 45 percent have been out of work for more than six. Providing the option for a year of forbearance will give struggling homeowners a substantially greater chance of finding employment before they lose their home,” Donovan said.

Qualified homeowners will be allowed to miss payments for 12 months before the foreclosure process begins.

All FHA-approved must participate, according to a Housing and Urban Development press release.

--Christopher Quinn