Orange County Register

Car dealers have been advertising buyer assurance programs that cover payments in the event of a job loss. Now an Orange County real estate brokerage is offering a similar plan for homebuyers.

The program, initiated by Star Real Estate, protects buyers who purchase homes but lose their jobs within two years. The homeowner can get up to $1,800 a month for six months to help pay the mortgage.

The folks at Star say it’s the first brokerage to provide this program in California. A query to the California Association of Realtors went unanswered. (If anyone knows of another  plan here or one coming soon, let us know in the comments!)

CAR has a similar program, but it’s aimed at first-time homebuyers, says Mary Jane Cambria, president of the Orange County Association of Realtors and a Star broker in Huntington Beach. She says builders have been offering this type of protection, too  – but just on new homes.

The homebuyer cannot purchase the program at Star; The real estate agent or lender does that, Cambria says. The funding for the new program, which Star began offering this month, comes from the Rainy Day Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps people avoid foreclosure and offers counseling on how to follow a budget and save money.

According to Rainy Day, many homeowners:

• Spend the financial reserves required for loan approval within the first 60 days of buying their home
• Do not follow a budget or have a financial plan for the future
• Add significant debt in the first 2 months of home ownership
• Lack support mechanisms in place to address these problems

The program excludes people who are self employed or in the military. So f ar, I haven’t been able to find out why military folks are not included.

Realtors are already touting the buyer protection program in their listings, like the one for this 4-bedroom, 4-bath home with an asking price of $1,150,000 in Huntington Beach:

109 Alabama St.

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