Pandemic-related financial help began reaching Pa. mortgagors this week. But accessing it is proving problematic for some, reported Emily Rizzo for WHYY.

When an online application filing site opened this week, the backlog of Pa. filers crashed it.

That volume of area homeowners struggling with mortgage payments is no news to Paula Powers-Watts, executive director of the Credit Counseling Center in Richboro. Her nonprofit connects in-arrears borrowers with local, state, and federal resources.

“It’s almost unending, the number of calls we get. They are really at their wits’ end,” said Powers-Watts.

Many area residents have found financial solace in mortgage forbearance, a temporary catch-up plan to address overdue payments without the pressure of legal action.

But others — 45 percent of Credit Counseling Center requesters — have maxed out even on these good-faith extensions.

William Kampf, 88, from Croydon was one of them. He currently has a $6,000 lien against his home and scant resources to access help.

“I don’t have a computer,” said Kampf explaining his inability to access state help. “I can’t afford one.” His finances are complicated by a fixed-income retirement, mounting medical bills, and a home damaged by the July 2021 flooding.

The Credit Counseling Center is helping Kampf. Although he has arranged for a modified mortgage repayment schedule, the center is also connecting him with aid.

More on the ongoing financial relief for area mortgagors is at WHYY.