Georgia risks passing up millions of dollars in funding to stop foreclosures | News Feature | Creative Loafing Atlanta

Mark Harris always wanted a house with a two-car garage and a fireplace. In 1996, the U.S. Army veteran and commercial truck driver finally got his wish when he left Cascade Heights and moved into a ranch-style home on Dunwick Drive in Avondale Estates.

“My home is my pride and joy,” Harris says. “It’s literally my symbol of success. It’s my security blanket. When you enter into homeownership you look at it as a long-term life-changing experience.”

Late last year, Harris lost his job as a delivery truck driver and started falling behind on his mortgage payments. While visiting the Georgia Department of Labor, he learned about a federally funded state program called HomeSafe Georgia that was created to help the unemployed and underemployed pay their mortgages and fend off foreclosure for up to 18 months while they look for work. When his lender started foreclosing on his house last May, he applied to HomeSafe. Five months later, he says, his application had not been approved. The lender moved ahead with the foreclosure.

“The requirements are crazy,” says Harris, who, despite fighting the mortgage company in court, was evicted last week, arrested trying to occupy his home, and, as CL went to press, was planning on staying at a homeless shelter for veterans. “Just like with any other government program, it sounds good until you apply for it and there’s all this red tape.”

HomeSafe, which launched in April 2011, has attempted to keep people sheltered during the toughest economic period the United States has seen since the Great Depression. But according to housing activists, it’s extremely restrictive. The federal government has set aside $339.3 million for Georgia’s program through 2017. At that time, any unused funds must be sent back to Washington, D.C. Judging from Georgia’s own reports, the state runs the risk of returning millions.

via Georgia risks passing up millions of dollars in funding to stop foreclosures | News Feature | Creative Loafing Atlanta.