About 100 people have received assistance through programs that include allowing borrowers to refinance from subprime or adjustable rate loans; targeting credit-challenged consumers who have been delinquent; and offering up to $15,000 through a deferred, no-interest loan to homeowners who are delinquent.
Other foreclosure-prevention efforts have resulted in help for 4,041 borrowers to adjust or refinance their mortgages. The state also is in line for $46 million in federal neighborhood stabilization funds.
Skinner said only a modest number of Maryland residents have been able to use the state loan programs because many simply don't qualify due to lack of equity in their homes or creditworthiness.
But for those who do, the programs work, said Mary Klipa, a Dundalk homeowner who found mortgage relief through a state program.
Klipa said her income was reduced after her marriage separation and, "I found myself in a situation where I became desperate and falling behind."
She said she was never notified of a foreclosure and didn't realize her lender had started the process until "there were people walking in my front yard asking my kids how many bedrooms" the house had.
A lender she described as predatory offered to help, leaving her with an adjustable rate loan that was about to reset to a much higher and unaffordable rate. She was trying to sell the house when she heard about the state's Lifeline program. She refinanced and kept her house.
"This was my last hope," she said. "It's been a year, and everything is fine. The interest rate is great and the payment is affordable. It worked for me."
Baltimore Sun reporter Hanah Cho contributed to this article.
