Abess v. PHFA - Cmwlth. Court - January 8, 2009 - unreported memorandum decision
http://origin-www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Cwealth/out/1035CD08_1-8-09.pdf
Applicant denied HEMAP mortgage loan assistance for failure to prove that he could resume full mortgage payments within applicable time.
To qualify for a HEMAP loan, a homeowner must meet all of the eligibility requirements set forth in Section 404c, 35 P.S. §1680.404c of the Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Act (Act), Act of December 23, 1983, P.L. 385, No. 91, as amended, 35 P.S. §1680.401c-§1680.410c.
That section provides that: (a) No assistance may be made with respect to a mortgage or mortgagor under this article unless all of the following are established:
(5) The agency has determined that there is a reasonable prospect that the mortgagor will be able to resume full mortgage payments within twenty-four (24) months after the beginning of the period for which assistance payments are provided under this article and pay the mortgage or mortgages in full by its maturity date or by a later date agreed to by the mortgagee or mortgagees for completing mortgage payments. (Emphasis added.) Section 404c of the Act, 35 P.S. §1680.404c(a)(5). (emphasis added)
Applicant's evidence about his work record showed that he had been self-employed in a number of businesses, but that none of those businesses generated any significant income. "Given the fact that those businesses failed to generate any substantial income in the past, and the fact that Petitioner’s expenses and mortgage payments far exceeded his income, the Agency had no other choice but to find that there was no reasonable prospect for him to resume full mortgage payments within 24 months." See Cullins v. PHFA, 623 A.2d 951 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993); Koch v. PHFA, 505 A.2d 649 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986).
