The Home Mortgage Bridge Loan Assistance Act of 2012

Abstract

Many homeowners now faced with the threat of foreclosure are only temporarily in distress owing to temporary income loss rooted in unemployment or underemployment. In consequence many foreclosures, along with their many harmful effects upon home prices as well as neighborhoods and families, can be avoided at very low cost through bridge loan assistance programs. Pennsylvania's highly successful HEMAP program, instituted in the early 1980s, is a conspicuous case in point. Our draft statute aims to replicate the benefits of HEMAP while also incorporating lessons learned in the several decades since HEMAP's implementation. The statute is to be considered by the legislature for adoption in the state of New York, and, we hope, might serve as a template for other state legislatures and Congress alike.

Keywords: Mortgages, mortgage debt, mortgage relief, bridge loans, bridge loan assistance, foreclosure-prevention, housing