News
Connecticut program helps people avoid foreclosure
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Aug 11, 2009 - 11:57 AM

Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program reports first-year results; meets growing need

It’s true what they say: “education pays.” Eighty families have already avoided foreclosure and hundreds of others are on track to keep their homes through the Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program, a statewide program created last year.

The Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program helps borrowers throughout Connecticut gain the job skills they need to be able to earn more money and become financially stable. Enacted into law in June 2008 with the sponsorship of state Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and Representative Ryan Barry (D-Manchester), the program started serving borrowers in September and has just completed its first fiscal year.

The program is designed for Connecticut borrowers who are at least 60 days past due on their mortgage payments on their primary residence and have a household income of less than $120,000. Borrowers can find needed support at no cost. The Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program works in partnership with credit counselors and other support agencies to help improve the borrowers’ financial standing with lenders.

“Connecticut residents and communities are benefiting greatly from this program,” said Senator Duff. “By providing a ‘hand up’ instead of a ‘hand out,’ the Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program makes targeted investments in people’s futures.”

“The Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program helps create better options for people now and in the future by bringing together the right resources to address their individual situations and potential,” according to Joseph M. Carbone, president and chief executive officer of The WorkPlace, Inc. which manages the program.

Career coaching and customized employment services were provided to 722 people, leading many to job training scholarships and job placement assistance. Of the 513 who have received job training scholarships, 231 have completed training so far. Some have found new employment, the majority with increased wages. Others are still in the process of training and working through their financial options with their lenders, but 80 have avoided foreclosure to date with the assistance of the Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program.

The program assists borrowers in reaching resolution with their lenders; mortgage outcomes to date have included loan modifications, new payment plans, participation in Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s EMAP program and sale of home by the participant. The program also helps families become more stable financially; to date 541 people have been referred to financial literacy, credit counseling, and other needed services.

Interest in and referrals to the program remain very high. Mortgage experts predict that Connecticut’s foreclosure situation will worsen due to impact from unemployment and the economic downturn still working through the system. This program provides both a short-term and long-term solution by enhancing the individual’s earning potential.

The only program of its kind in the United States, the Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program is a project of The WorkPlace, Inc. in partnership with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), Capital Workforce Partners, and Connecticut’s workforce system.

For more information about the Mortgage Crisis Job Training Program, call toll free at 1-866-683-1682 or visit www.workplace.org/mortgage.asp.

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