Homeowner Assistance

Awhile back I reported to the City Council my concern towards the community costs of mounting foreclosures within our City. Foreclosed homes become a burden on the remaining community and drain resources of several City agencies. As a result the Council asked West Valley City senior staff to draft a letter and statement to the various governing agencies explaining the housing situation that we are experiencing. The assembled letter was sent to various agencies with regulatory oversight. In a related response The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a loan program to assist families faced with foreclosure. While I am generally against 'bailout' type programs this attempt is well structured, as it offers another financing option to the already tight and suffering credit markets. The funds must be paid back in a relatively short amount of time, so they are only meant as a temporary assistance to those who qualify. ABC4 covered the announcement and the text of that report follows:


WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) - Struggling homeowners in Utah now have access to $16.5 million dollars in federal emergency loan funds that will help thousands of people who are facing foreclosure.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will announce the billion dollar Emergency Homeowner Loan on Wednesday in Washington D.C. but they announced the money will come here to Utah a day early.

The money will help people like Doug Delquardo, one of thousands of Utah homeowners who couldn’t keep up on his payments. "I feel really empty, jeez what matters now, where do I go,” Delquardo said.

After months of non payment foreclosure finally forced Delquadro out of his home. “I don't know where I am going, my credit is shot."

But on Tuesday the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a program that could have helped Delquadro and can help thousands of other Utah families in need. "These are people who are, that are on the edge and this is going to be a great resource for these families,” said H.U.D Regional Director Rick Garcia. Garcia announced the billion dollar emergency loan program at the Utah Housing Matters Conference in West Valley City.

Garcia said those who qualify can get up to $50,000 in emergency loans to pay their mortgages. "How quickly, because we have home owners in such urgent need right now,” said Utah Housing Coalition Director Kim Datwyler. Datwyler works with Utah families struggling to keep a step ahead of bank repossession and thinks the help can not come soon enough. She said the $16; 5-million in federal loans will help turn the tide of growing foreclosures in Utah, and prevent more situations like the exodus at the Delquadro home.” For most of them it is job loss or a partial loss of income and we do need to help them because it impacts the entire community,” Datwyler said.

To qualify for the loans the borrower must be at least 3 months behind in their payments and have suffered at least a 15 percent reduction in income but must have a reasonable likelihood of resuming their mortgage payments within the next two years.