Nearly a thousand Tennessee homeowners have applied with the state so far this year for temporary help making mortgage payments. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency is lending federal money to families whove lost work in recent years, and are trying to stay in their houses. The program, called keep my Tennessee home, lends homeowners up to $15 thousand over the course of a year to make mortgage payments. And it can loan more money in counties hit hard by unemployment, mostly in rural areas.
Eventually the whole loan can be forgiven, if the family manages to stay in the home for five years. According to the states foreclosure prevention manager the idea is that keeping homes occupied benefits more than just the homeowner.
