Some of you may know Genworth as a mortgage insurer, some of you may have no idea who they are or what they do.  Some of you would be quite interested in knowing about the Genworth Home Owners Assistance Program. Well, here in Canada, we are required to have insured mortgages when buying a home with less than 20% down.

There are 3 different insurers in Canada and they are as follows:

1. Genworth Financial Canada
2. Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC)
3. Canada Guaranty

Genworth recently attended one of our Royal LePage RCR Realty Brokerage‘s Tuesday sales meetings and elaborated on a service which they provide that we feel we should share.  No one wants to imagine themselves in a situation where they are unable to make their mortgage payments, but it can be a reality for some Dufferin County homeowners for a multitude of unfortunate reasons; job loss, illness or injury or perhaps a marital separation.  If you have a Genworth insured mortgage and find yourself in such a situation, there may be help available.

The Genworth Home Owners Assistance program is in place to assist homeowners find themselves experiencing temporary financial hardships which may put their mortgage at risk.  This program is available to eligible homeowners at no cost.  The program enables you to work together with your lender (financial institution) to establish an arrangement that will allow you to remain living in your home until you can get back on your feet. It can cost the insurer, tens of thousands of dollars to go through the power of sale process so working out a solution that helps a homeowner remain in their home during a financially difficult event can be a win for both the homeowner and the insurer.

It’s obviously not a cut and dry process but you should definitely reach out to Genworth at the earliest possible convenience so that they can work with you to find the best solution. As each situation is unique, they will look at your circumstances and work out a plan that works best for everyone involved.  This can include one of many repayment options that would be structured specifically for you.

Our hope of course is that you never find yourself in a situation that would require you to have to utilize this program, but we feel it is important to educate our clients so that they are aware and to let those who are near and dear to them know, that such programs do exist.

You can visit the Genworth site for more specific information on this and other programs. You are welcome to contact us as well and we can at least help you get headed in the right direction.