Just one month after the seventh round of funds was appropriated by Congress, the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program is making $70.1 million available to various agencies across the country.
Beneficiaries include 30 state housing finance agencies, 17 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries and 72 community-based NeighborWorks America member organizations, which will use the money to provide counseling to families and individuals at risk of losing their home to foreclosure.
The need for the NFMC funding is critical, said Douglas Robinson, a spokesman for NeighborWorks, “with eligible applicants requesting more than $105 million in NFMC grant funds,” supply does not meet demand.
Regardless of the recent housing market improvements, he said,
NeighborWorks maintains that while these grants are “especially timely,” they are insufficient because “foreclosure is likely to affect more than one million people this year.”
The nonprofit estimates that NFMC program will directly assist nearly 193,000 families at risk of foreclosure and to train foreclosure counselors who will reach out to more homeowners.
NeighborWorks plans to use part of the grant to train 2,000 counselors working with 1,200 nonprofit counseling agencies and local member organizations across the country.
To date the program has helped provide assistance to more than 1.5 million families.
