Plainfield backs grant application to deal with foreclosures
By Madhu Mayer Correspondent February 5, 2013 9:58AM
Updated: March 14, 2013 6:06AM
The village of Plainfield is supporting a nonprofit agency’s efforts to apply for a grant application that will provide foreclosure assistance in northern Will County.
The Plainfield Village Board on Monday adopted a resolution in support of an application by the Community Service Council of Northern Will County for its proposal to the National Foreclosure Settlement Awards Housing Counseling and Community Revitalization Program.
Funding sources for the program come from a $25 billion national settlement reached in April 2012 with the nation’s five largest mortgage service providers. The settlement addressed allegations of widespread “robo-signing” of foreclosure documents and other fraudulent practices while servicing loans of struggling homeowners, according to Illinois attorney general’s office.
As a result of the settlement, homeowners in Illinois will receive $1 billion in principal reductions on their mortgages and other loan-related relief.
Illinois also received more than $100 million to provide grants to ameliorate the damage done by the foreclosure crisis.
Village planner Jonathan Proulx said the Community Service Council intends to apply for a grant through the state attorney general’s office for a program that would provide funding for home ownership counseling, as well as funds to purchase foreclosed homes, renovate them and sell them to qualified buyers.
The council is a nonprofit, United Way agency that was formed in 1978 to meet the social service needs of individuals and families in northern Will County.
“The CSC would focus its resources from this grant-funded program specifically on the communities of Plainfield, Romeoville and Bolingbrook,” Proulx said.
