Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich said Friday that a statewide program designed to help struggling homeowners is growing in scope and funding—especially with four additional lenders now signed on to contribute additional funding.

The state’s Illinois Homeowner Assistance Initiative was founded with an initial pool of $200 million—most of which will be used to move qualified, solid borrowers into safer, fixed rate loan products.
Governor Blagojevich says participating lenders including the newly signed on—1st Advantage, Members Alliance Credit Union, National Bank of Commerce in Berkley and Town Stone Financial—have provided $300 million in funding to help borrowers.
“Helping families stay in their homes through these tough times is a top priority,” Blagojevich said. “The best way to do that is to bring lenders, consumers, advocates and policy makers together. We did that in an unprecedented way in February when we launched the Illinois Homeowner Assistance program.”
In a press release, Governor Blagojevich’s office said the initiative has grown not only in funding, but in the amount of counselors who have signed on to help.
To ensure homeowners have as much time as possible to develop effective loss mitigation solutions, Governor Blagojevich also is asking for new legal criteria that will allow borrowers a grace period of 60 days to prevent a pending foreclosure.