Pennsylvania Gov Rendell Lessens Number of Foreclosed Homes
April 9th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
Distressed families in Pennsylvania have been benefitting from the various programs being carried out by their Governor Edward Rendell to help them prevent their houses from turning into foreclosed homes and to help them get new skills and new jobs.
Governor Rendell recently visited Philadelphia-based Northwest Counseling Service to evaluate the progress of Pennsylvania Home Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP), which was designed to help troubled borrowers save their houses from becoming foreclosed homes.
In March, Governor Rendell added $5 million more to the funds of HEMAP to enable it to help about 550 additional families.
The governor has been deeply concerned about families being evicted from foreclosed homes due to the national economic downturn. Governor Rendell said Pennsylvania lost more than 115,000 jobs in the last 13 months, including more than 40,000 jobs during the month of February alone. He said more families losing their jobs mean more families without health insurance and more houses becoming foreclosed homes.
In 2008, total Pennsylvania foreclosures increased by a staggering 127 percent to about 43,000, compared to 2007 foreclosures. In February, total state foreclosures reached 3,682, with Philadelphia having the highest number of 1,551 filings. Other communities with relatively high foreclosure filings were Allegheny County, Lackawanna County and Erie County.
Governor Rendell said he decided to use his executive power to launch a series of measures to immediately help families because state General Assembly processes to create and enact foreclosure prevention initiatives take time.
HEMAP received over 1,450 applications in March, the highest number of applications in a month, according to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. Since the start of the year, HEMAP has already helped save 2,200 families from the harrowing situation of being evicted from foreclosed homes.
Governor Rendell also said over 88,000 homeowners across Pennsylvania have underwater loans–loans whose amounts are much higher than the value of the homes they are linked to. One in every 15 borrowers in the state owes much more than the market value of the homes they are struggling to pay.
In addition to programs focused on mitigating foreclosed homes, Governor Rendell also launched initiatives that help solve factors that have been causing foreclosed homes, such as job losses. Rendell launched the websites HereToHelp.pa.gov and PaRxPriceFinder.com and expanded job training programs like the adultBasic and the Pennsylvania CareerLink centers.
