Good News for home owners in distress!

And by “Good News” I don’t mean some shady scheme to short sell your house to an off-shore corporation in the Caymen Islands.

Fannie Mae is introducing an Unemployment Forbearance program which provides assistance to borrowers dealing with unemployment.

These loans will allow the borrower to receive a reduction or suspension of their monthly mortgage payment for a specific period of time and will prohibit services from foreclosing on your property.

A mortgage loan is eligible for an Unemployment Forbearance if all the following criteria are met:

• The property cannot be vacant, condemned, or abandoned.
• The mortgage loan cannot be an FHA, VA, or Rural Housing mortgage loan.
• The property must be a principal residence. Second homes and investment properties are not eligible.
• The borrower may be either delinquent or default is reasonably foreseeable.
• The borrower must have a financial hardship due to unemployment.

The Forbearance will be canceled if:

• Any of the eligibility criteria and terms stated above are no longer met.
• The borrower advises the servicer that he or she has become employed or is no longer actively seeking employment.

If you need more information contact Jeannie Bolger with Nova Home loans.

For those of you unable to attend last nights sustainability event downtown, you missed out on a panel of exceptional experts, conversation, and ideas to benefit our city.

The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center was filled with almost 400 community members. The forum was filled with heated debate but after all was said an done, the panelists encourages more community and individual involvement to reach solutions.

So What can you do? Well here are a few ideas:

• Install Solar panels – A great way to take advantage of the Arizona Sun and cut down on energy usage. This can be a pricey investment, but with incentive programs and leasing options, it is worth it in the end and may add value to your home.
• Green Remodeling and Demolition – looking to fix that fixer upper? A local green demo and remodeling service for residential homes can be a great way to make a green friendly decision.
• Green Landscaping – You don’t need to be a botanist to know your lawn needs water to survive in Arizona. Choose plants that thrive in our climate or find an ecofriendly landscaper to find them for you.
• Use a Paperless system at your business – If every U.S. home received and paid its bills online, annual greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 2.1 tons. Seriously
• Unplug electronics, battery chargers and other equipment when not in use – Taken together, these small items can use as much power as your refrigerator.
• Bring reusable bags to do your grocery shopping. – Or bring your old plastic bags to the store, they’re not helping anyone under your sink. Some stores even give you 10 cents off your groceries for every bag you bring.

So get started today! And check out the Environmental Sustainability Programs Phoenix had developed to help us become one of the country’s leaders in sustainability!