An offer to help "underwater" homeowners in Georgia has drawn more than 3,000 applications in the first week since state officials announced the program.
Applications have come from 116 counties, the bulk of them from metro Atlanta, according to MaryBrown Sandys, director of marketing and communications for the state Department of Community Affairs.
There were more than 50 applicants from ten counties – nine of them in metro Atlanta. The tenth was Muscogee County, in western central Georgia.
The "Hardest Hit" program, announced last week, has about $110 million to parse out to homeowners who are "underwater," that is, the value of their homes are less than what they owe on their mortgages.
The money can help roughly 3,000 people – although at least some of those who have applied so far are not qualified. For example, the program requires that the homeowner not also be the owner of any other property.
At the request of several state senators, Carmen Chubb, deputy commissioner of housing for the department, and Brenda McGee, the director of HomeSafe Georgia, will attend local town halls during the next two weeks to talk about their respective programs.
HomeSafe is a separate program meant to help struggling homeowners make mortgage payments.
One meeting will be Monday evening in Stockbridge at the Fairview Recreation Center on Austin Road. A second meeting will be Tuesday evening in Atlanta at the Lindsay Street Baptist Church on Lindsay Street, Sandys said.
A third is scheduled for Oct. 18 at the New Life Baptist Church in Decatur.
About the Author
