SPRINGDALE — Homeowners who lose their jobs and collect unemployment income now have a better chance to modify their mortgages, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
Until recently, unemployment income was not utilized when calculating a loan modification, leaving distressed homeowners with few options.
Because income is the basis for mortgage modification or loan qualification, unless a unemployed borrower had some other source of income they were likely denied help, said Walt Fenton, mortgage specialist with First Security Bank in Fayetteville.