Cynthia Harrison, from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, spoke at the noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on May 20 about the HomeSafe Georgia program.  This is a federally funded program which seeks to provide temporary mortgage payment assistance to unemployed or underemployed homeowners who are suffering because of the recent economic downturn.  She spent some time clarifying the term “underemployed” and explained that these are people who are self-employed or who have had their hours (thus their income) cut back from full time or who once out of a job had to take a job for less pay than their previous one.  These people often have trouble meeting their mortgage payments.  HomeSafe Georgia offers 18 months of mortgage payment relief for people who meet the requirements for the program.  (Those requirements can be found at www.HomeSafeGeorgia.com.) Money is paid to participating mortgage servicers on behalf of the homeowners; if homeowners stay in the house for five years, there is then no payback required.  The application process is free but requires some patience in waiting for processing.  This program has assisted 3500 Georgia families, and Harrison asked that Rotarians help get out the word about this service to anyone they thought needed this kind of assistance.

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