Projo Biz Blog

Rhode Island Housing announced this afternoon that it is again offering a heating assistance program that allows mortgage customers to defer part of their monthly mortgage payment during the winter months to make it easier to pay heating bills.

The program, first offered in 2005, allows the agency's FirstHomes customers to defer $200 a month from their mortgage payments for up to four months: December, January, February and March.

The deferal has to be repaid during the following eight months with an extra $100-a-month payment after the heating season is over.

The program is free and will not increase the interest customers pay on their mortgages, Rhode Island Housing said. It will send details of the program to 6,300 mortgage customers this month, it said.

“As the cost of home-heating fuel continues to rise, we want to do all we can to ensure that our
customers can live safely and comfortably in their homes, and continue to afford to pay their monthly bills on time,” said Richard Godfrey, executive director of Rhode Island Housing, in a statement.

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