The Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) is a new $1 billion Obama administration program which is estimated to assist 30,000 unemployed borrowers, who are otherwise straining to avoid foreclosure, reports the Wall Street Journal.


The program will cater to 27 states, as well as Puerto Rico, offering interest-free payments; the payments may not exceed $50,000 and borrowers will have five years to pay the loans back.

Eligibility requirements include: at least a 15 percent drop in income; at least three months worth of delinquent mortgage payments; demonstrated likelihood of foreclosure; the ability to resume payment; and finally, the property in question must be the applicant’s principal residence.

Unemployed homeowners in need of assistance must apply for the program by July 22 in order to be eligible, with approval by September 30.

“It will be challenging,” to enroll borrowers, within the restricted time frame, said David Berenbaum, the chief program officer of the Washington-based National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a branch helping to run the program, to the Wall Street Journal. “It’s been extremely frustrating that the program has been so delayed,” he added.

Previous attempts to instill such a program were expected to take place at the end of last year, but various complications delayed the programs.

Excluded from the program are states including Michigan, California, and Nevada, because they already have alternate funding in place.

Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland and Pennsylvania, while not listed at states eligible to receive EHLP, have “substantially similar” programs, so residents must apply through these government agencies which in turn administer EHLP funds.

Learn more about eligibility for the program on HUD’s page about EHLP.