This is the first Mortgage relief program I've heard of that could make a difference

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.housingwire.com/2010/06/23/obama-administrat...
Obama Administration OKs $1.5bn Hardest-Hit Mortgage Relief Fund Plans

by DIANA GOLOBAY

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010, 9:47 am

The Obama Administration signed off on state plans to use $1.5bn in foreclosure-prevention funding for states hardest-hit by home price declines.

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The aid, granted through the Hardest Hit Fund announced in February, supports local initiatives to aid underwater mortgage borrowers in states where average housing prices declined 20% or more from peak levels. The states include Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada.

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In March, the Administration announced a second round of Hardest Hit Fund aid totaling $600m for five additional states with high areas of concentrated unemployment: North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina. These states already submitted proposals, which are currently being reviewed, Treasury said.

This program is finally speaking interms of PRINCIPLE REDUCTION as well as lowering rates, and eliminating second liens. It sounds like the program is just getting ready to roll out in the states that qualify. If you live in one of these states and are having issues:

Michigan:
http://www.mortgageorb.com/e107_plugins/content/content...

Florida:
http://www.floridahousing.org/HousingResources/Foreclos... /

RI:
http://www.rhodeislandhousing.org/sp.cfm?pageid=861

Nevada:
http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevada-homeowners-could-ge...

California:
http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2010/05/14/calhfa-reques... /

This was all I could find right now.

[sandnsea]

1. Looks like Oregon's program isn't ready yet

Frustrating. Although Bank of America has been offering a principal reduction program since the end of May. I don't know about the others.

http://www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org/

[SoCalDem]

2. 16 months too late

but it might help some people.

The sad truth is that for MOST people, missing even ONE payment is indicative of serious financial problems, and "aid" that comes too late is..well too late.

what need to happen is for homes sold in the "crazy years" to be re-appraised at realistic values, and the loan PRINCIPAL to be adjusted downward on those loans..People like me, who bought waaaay back just "lost" vapor money since we did not sell, and the ones who cashed out at the top..well they were lucky.

Until the housing market resets at a realistic point, nothing will change.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Hope for Home Owners was a real bust - only 64 mortgages endorsed!

But a company is trying to resurrect it

http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/lead_story/?story_id=289
FHA's 'H4H' a Bust So Far But One Vendor Could Change That
By Brian Collins

In wake of the subprime meltdown and rising foreclosures, Congress passed legislation in late 2008 authorizing the FHA to refinance up to $300 billion of underwater mortgages to help at-risk borrowers stay in their homes. To date the program has resulted in the agency endorsing just 64 loans under the "Hope for Homeowners" moniker. To call this once-heralded effort a disappointment is being generous.

However, Banker's Portfolio, a vendor that specializes in auctioning bulk REO and portfolios of seriously delinquent loans, has not given up on the FHA program. The Irvine, Calif., company has lined up four government-approved lenders to facilitate H4H refinancings and is testing portfolios for several mortgage investors to see if their conventional loans qualify for the program.

[sandnsea]

8. Yeah that was Bush's program n/t

[girl gone mad]

9. The Obama administration endorsed the program and fought against..

cramdown provisions, even though they were warned by many experts that their strategy would result in failure.

But I guess it's encouraging that they may finally be seeing the error of their ways.

[sandnsea]

10. The Obama Administration added new programs

almost as quickly as they took office. They've been adding programs and additional regulations as time has gone on. Most home modifications are going under Making Homes Affordable and other newer programs, which of course the OP and right wing writer don't mention.

[girl gone mad]

11. Making Homes Affordable has not been successful.

The administration refused to do the one thing that experts told them would work (cramdowns), choosing instead to continue with a strategies that were punitive only to homebuyers. This effort has failed, for all of the reasons people said it would fail.

"Banks apparently have won this fight. At least they won a round. President Obama said he continued to support the concept of the cramdown, but suggested it would be introduced as a last resort, not here in the preliminary stages of the mortgage relief effort. He apparently showed a willingness to let the mechanism of the foreclosure-prevention program he introduced Wednesday take hold in the marketplace before resorting to pressing for the cramdown effort."


Too bad. If only they'd listened then. But I guess it's better late than never.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/obama-foreclosure-prevent_n_492376.html">Obama Foreclosure-Prevention Plan Lagging, New Data Shows:

Only about a third of the homeowners who have successfully completed the trial period of the Obama administration's mortgage modification program have been offered permanent relief, according to new federal data obtained by the Huffington Post.

The conversion rate -- about 33 percent -- is woefully short of what the Treasury Department had forecast. Treasury thought the rate would be "ranging up to 75 percent," Herbert M. Allison Jr., assistant secretary for financial stability, told the Congressional Oversight Panel in October.

The other two-thirds of homeowners who have gone through the trial program and made the necessary payments remain in limbo. Some of those homeowners -- more than 350,000 of them -- will ultimately lose out on the kind of relief the administration has repeatedly promised: averting foreclosure through lower monthly payments.

[ljm2002]

4. Thanks for posting...

...here is a corrected link for Nevada:

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevada-homeowners-could-get-help-from-federal-funding-97004429.html

I followed the link therein:

http://www.nahac.org/

only to find out that I probably don't qualify -- but oh well. It looks like it could be very helpful for people in real need of assistance, and I for one applaud President Obama's and Harry Reid's efforts to help people in need.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. Thanks for the corrected link - I edited the OP to work

I'm sorry you don't qualify.

Yes, I am also happy to see programs that address real people's needs. May there be many more.

[ljm2002]

13. I'm not upset that I don't qualify...

...didn't really expect to, but it's always worth checking. I'd rather it go to people who are actually in danger of losing their homes, which right now I am not. You never know what tomorrow will bring, of course.

[county worker]

6. Check out the Homeowners Assistance Program for military personnel.

[droidamus2]

7. How about some help for us in Vermont

The only question I have is are these programs going to be used to help those people in California that bought multi-million dollar homes and are now upside down on their mortgages or is there going to be some kind of 'means test'? I was lucky enough to sell my California home about 4 months after the market peaked. Of course now I sit here in Vermont unemployed and wondering if I will be able to keep my home here (even after putting 50% down).

[bunny planet]

12. Thank you but

the Florida link does not work