EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- The mortgage crisis has left 1,000 victims in Connecticut.

In the past few weeks, both the state and federal government have passed new laws aimed at assisting those families.

Woman Saves Home With Days To Spare

Brenda Haberin, of East Hartford, told Eyewitness News that she nearly became another statistic. She said that days before she was to lose her home, she found the assistance that she needed.

Haberin's East Hartford home is the first she's ever owned. She said that she still managed to make her monthly payments when her husband left, but that when her mortgage company forced her to refinance at a higher interest rate, she couldn't do it.

She said that her new rate was 16 percent, making her payment $1,800 per month.

She said that she was told that she had 14 days to come up with the money or leave her home behind.

She said that in those desperate hours someone told her about the Connecticut Housing and Finance Authority, which helps homeowners like Haberin.

CHFA was able to combine Haberin's loans into one and to giver her a new mortgage with a fixed rate of 5.5 percent.

"I feel blessed," Haberin said. "I can stay here for 30 years."

On July 1, a new emergency mortgage assistance program winto into effect, allocating $64 million to help people losing their homes.

New federal rules aimed at sub-prime lending require lenders to make sure borrowers set aside money for taxes and insurance and bars lenders from making loans without proof of the borrower's income.

CHFA said that it has seen many cases lately, some with interest rates as high as 20 percent.

Anyone suffering from the sub-prime mortgage crisis can contact CHFA by dialing 877- 571-CHFA.