Ohio residents, like homeowners across the nation, are currently facing the risk of losing their homes to foreclosure or defaulting on their mortgages.

In an effort to help prevent home foreclosures in Ohio, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) announced new changes to the state's foreclosure prevention program. The changes, which are entitled "Enhancements to Restoring Stability: A Save the Dream Ohio Initiative, have been designed with the hopes of reaching Ohio homeowners who need it the most.

OHFA's goal is to assist the thousands of Ohio homeowners struggling to stay in their homes. The original program was implemented in September 2010, and since that date, nearly 4,000 homeowners facing mortgage default or foreclosure have been helped.

In fact, Ohio's program is one of the nation's largest foreclosure prevention programs. To date, OHFA has helped make more than $30 million in mortgage payments. This money has been designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund.

The eligible homeowners are those facing financial hardships, such as unemployment, reduced wages, reduced hours, death of a spouse, divorce and medical expenses.

Under the new changes, the state agency is hoping to reach more unemployed and underemployed homeowners. These homeowners may be eligible to receive full mortgage payments for up to 15 months, or $20,000.

Other obstacles that previously stood in the way of Ohio homeowners qualifying for Ohio's Restoring Stability program have also been eliminated or modified. For example, homeowners who had missed mortgage payments or whose debt had been discharged in a Chapter7 bankruptcy case were previously ineligible. Under the expanded program, these are no longer exceptions.

Hopefully, with the expansion of Ohio's foreclosure prevention program, many more homeowners will not have to face losing their homes.

Source: The Jackson County Times-Journal, "OHFA announces changes to the State's Foreclosure Prevention Program," Jan. 9, 2012