Nearly a year into its implementation, a reverse mortgage assistance program in Florida that helps borrowers cure loan defaults is struggling to catch on among seniors in the state, reports The Palm Beach Post.
Since its launch by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation in November, the Elderly Mortgage Assistance Program, or ELMORE, has accepted 245 seniors into the program across the state through August, providing a total of $3.28 million, or an average of $13,136 each, in relief.
The program was created as one of five foreclosure prevention methods under the state’s $1 billion Hardest Hit Fund, which is estimated to reach 2,500 homeowners in helping them pay housing-related expenses such as taxes, community association dues and insurance costs.
Through April, ELMORE received applications from about 1,760 seniors, including 140 homeowners residing in Palm Beach County, the article notes.
But the program has yet to reach its full potential, particularly as raising awareness among the senior community and gathering application information for ELMORE has proven challenging so far, said Kim Clawson, director of the Helpline at the Aging and Disability Resource Center in West Palm Beach, in the article.
“We’re still trying to determine how best to assist people with this,” she said. “There are probably going to need to be more people who can go into the homes and help seniors gather proof of income and find the required documentation.”
Read The Palm Beach Post article.
Written by Jason Oliva
