Home Protection Pilot

Seeing his friends and neighbors lose jobs they had for years was a big reason Walter Dalton first ran for Senate in 1996.  It was – and still is – Walter’s unshakable view that we owed it to workers to do whatever we could to help them through tough times. Motivated by this belief and his inability to disregard the plight of his friends and neighbors, Walter introduced legislation to assist the core of North Carolina – our working men and women.  

In 2004, Walter Dalton authored the bill that created what is now known as the Home Protection Pilot Program.  When people lose their jobs due to changing economic conditions, one of the first problems they face is how to deal with mortgage payments.  And as we all know, mortgages have become an even bigger issue in the last year.  The HPP gives no-interest loans to workers who have lost their jobs so they can pay their mortgages and also gives them a 120-day stay to prevent an immediate foreclosure.  

Once the loans are approved, the recipients are required to find work or go back to school for job retraining.  It is a truly wonderful program and it has been very successful.  It allows our workers the time they need to find a new job and get their lives in order. It gives them security. It gives them a chance, which is all anyone ever asks for. That’s why Walter Dalton plans to introduce legislation to improve and expand the program so that all workers affected by job loss have a chance to improve their quality of life.

Highlights:

• Qualified homeowners receive a zero-interest loan equal to either $20,000, 18 months of monthly mortgage payments, or the minimum amount required to bring loans and other mortgage-related obligations current.
• Repayment is deferred for 15 years
• The loans can be either short-term—to bring a mortgage current, or long-term—to keep a mortgage current for up to 18 months while you participate in an approved retraining program.
• A unique component of the program is a temporary 120-day stay of foreclosure. Under N.C. statute (Session Law 2005-276, Section 20.2, as amended), once a homeowner's completed application has been received by the Agency, the stay of foreclosure is imposed.
• Homeowners apply through participating local agencies, which offer housing counseling and determine whether applicants are eligible for assistance from the loan fund.

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