Keep Your Home California is a program that makes financial payments to help eligible California homeowners avoid foreclosure.

One homeowner was recently helped by Surepath Financial Solutions, one of the Foreclosure Help agency partners. This San Jose homeowner fell behind in her property tax payments after a long period of unemployment. When her lender learned about the property tax arrears, it paid the taxes and then sought to collect the arrears from her. The lender began the formal foreclosure process when the homeowner could not afford to pay the arrears. Meanwhile, the homeowner had found new employment, but without intervention from Keep Your Home California to pay the arrears, she would have lost her home to foreclosure.

Surepath submitted a Keep Your Home California benefit request under the Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program on behalf of the homeowner. This program, known as MRAP, provides a one-time payment of up to $25,000 to homeowners who are at least two payments behind on their mortgages but who can demonstrate current financial stability. In this case, MRAP paid all of the property tax arrears. With this help, the homeowner was able to maintain her current mortgage payments, and reached agreement with the lender to handle future property tax payments.

Not every homeowner facing foreclosure will qualify for Keep Your Home California benefits, but the Foreclosure Help Center can refer homeowners to counselors who will assess individual eligibility and make applications for benefits if appropriate.