The government has taken steps to curtail the rate of foreclosures and help those homeowners that are facing foreclosure with the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009″ and the “Making Home Affordable” program however the number of homeowners facing foreclosure is setting records.
As I stated in a post a couple of weeks ago about loan modifications making a difference and helping people stay in their homes, the real benefits of this won’t be seen for another quarter or two. In the meantime the numbers are sad.
According to a report issued by RealtyTrac(R), there were 1,905,723 foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) on 1,528,364 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2009, a 9% increase in total properties from the previous six months and a 15% increase in total properties from the first six months of 2008. This works out to 1.19% of all U.S. homes (1 in 84) receiving at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of this year.
For the month of June there were 336,173 properties with foreclosure filings, the fourth straight month that the total exceeded 300,000 which helped boost the 2nd quarter to the highest quarterly total since RealtyTrac(R)began issuing its report in the first quarter of 2005. Read more…
Today Freddie Mac posted a new video on You Tube that shows borrowers that cannot afford their current mortgage payments how to properly approach their lender to see if they qualify for a loan modification under the Making Home Affordable Program, or under one of Freddie Mac’s other workout programs.
According to Freddie Mac lenders are “handling an extraordinary volume of calls from distressed borrowers seeking an Home Affordable Modification” and that borrowers can, by gathering some documents and preparing information in advance they can help the lender understand their financial situation and more quickly determine if the borrower is eligible for a modification.
The program is designed to allow homeowners, even those that are “underwater” on their homes, to refinance their existing mortgages to lower their interest rates, thereby reducing their monthly payments. Previously homeowners that had a high interest rate mortgage, but little equity (or in a lot of cases negative equity) were stuck and could not refinance because of their loan to value. To see if you are eligible for this program go to the “Making Home Affordable Eligibility Site.”
To read more about the Making Home Affordable plan please see this post.
Do you have a second mortgage on your home? Do you feel that you are “underwater” in terms of the debt versus the equity in your home? If so, there may be help.
Yesterday the Obama administration announced details of a new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program. These efforts include an effort to achieve greater affordability for homeowners by lowering payments on their second mortgages as well as a set of measures to help underwater borrowers stay in their homes. Read more…
On the same day Congress pass the Economic Recovery Plan in February Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner introduced the Financial Stability Plan. Included in this plan is the Making Home Affordable Program in an effort to stabilize the housing market and help 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their mortgage payments to more affordable levels.
There are two components to this program, one of which may benefit you. The first is the Home Affordable Refinance Program which will provide up to 4 or 5 million homeowners that already have loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (about 90% of the home loans out there) an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments. This program is for borrowers that are current on their payments but are having difficulty refinancing to a lower interest rate because their property value has decreased. To complete a short questionnaire and find out if you may be eligible for this click here.
The second is the Affordable Modification Program which commits $75 billion to help up to 3 to 4 million Americans stay in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosure. This program is for those homeowners that are struggling to make their payments, or may have even missed a payment or two, but could make their payments if the amount was reduced. To complete a short questionnaire and find out if you may be eligible for this click here.
Unfortunately there are unscrupulous companies out there charging borrowers for the assistance I’m talking about here. There is NO REASON to pay anyone a dime for help with these programs. Go to the Consumer website established by the government at www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov for complete information.
