Here’s a newsflash – unemployment remains a concern.

In Arkansas, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in November – that is down from 9.three percent, but is nevertheless high for Arkansas. What that quantity implies is that 106,500 men and women in the Natural State want jobs but don’t have them. That’s a huge number, roughly equal to the population of Saline County.

That is a main problem for the economy for the economy for a quantity of factors, but we’ll just deal with one because this column focuses on real estate problems – how can people who are unemployed make their mortgage payments? It’s clear that 1 of the items slowing down homes sales is the persistently high mortgage rate, but a far more basic issue has to do with folks who have properties and were meeting their obligations nicely sufficient till they lost their jobs.

Freddie Mac – the mortgage giant and government sponsored entity – has come up with its answer to that question. Starting on Feb. 1, Freddie Mac will make it attainable for unemployed homeowners to apply for short-term and lengthy-term forebearance programs.

The short-term plan tends to make allowances for six months for men and women who are unemployed. If borrowers do not have a job following six months, then a separate, extended forebearance program may be accessible.

Bear in thoughts the programs are available to all mortgage servicers dealing with mortgages backed by Freddie Mac. It is hard to tell on a loan’s surface whether or not Freddie Mac backs it, but there’s a very good opportunity your residential mortgage is covered by the entity.

To find out for certain if your mortgage is backed by Freddie Mac, go to FreddieMac.com, click the “About Freddie Mac” tab at the leading of the page and then click on the FAQs (frequently asked concerns) link. From there, you will be led to a page exactly where you can kind in your mortgage details and discover out for yourself if Freddie Mac backs it or not.

If it is backed by Freddie Mac, then it is time to get in touch with your mortgage servicer – the business to which you pay your loan – and see if you are eligible to participate in a forebearance system. The guidelines established by Freddie Mac are fairly nicely uniform and established a set of criteria which servicers are directed to follow.

Of course, the federal government and related entities have tried for a couple of years now to help home owners struggling to meet their payments. Those programs have met with restricted accomplishment. Even so, it is encouraging to see continuing attempts to bring meaningful help to Americans in need to have of it.

It can be hard, nonetheless, to keep up with those programs as new ones are announced on a regular basis and it seems we’re constantly hearing about folks tinkering with programs in location. To step by way of that maze and see what programs are out there and which ones may possibly assist, it really is a good concept to put in a call to your nearby mortgage banker. They maintain up with various policies floating around out there and are willing to steer borrowers toward the programs that could perform greatest for them.

Residence Sweet Residence is written by Ethan C. Nobles and is sent weekly to publications all through the Natural State on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Arkansas.