Obama Administration Announces New Details on Making Home Affordable Program

This is really a public service announcement. I hope it helps you, or maybe you can pass it long to someone who needs the information.

If you know anyone that actually received a new mortgage under the Making Home Affordable Program let us know.

My guess based on what I have hear, and from talking to mortgage bankers, is that this plan is going no where fast. I hope I am wrong.

Some the key points:

• The Second Lien Program announced today will work in tandem with first lien modifications offered under the Home Affordable Modification Program to deliver a comprehensive affordability solution for struggling borrowers. Second mortgages can create significant challenges in helping borrowers avoid foreclosure, even when a first lien is modified. Up to 50 percent of at-risk mortgages have second liens, and many properties in foreclosure have more than one lien. Under the Second Lien Program, when a Home Affordable Modification is initiated on a first lien, servicers participating in the Second Lien Program will automatically reduce payments on the associated second lien according to a pre-set protocol. Alternatively, servicers will have the option to extinguish the second lien in return for a lump sum payment under a pre-set formula determined by Treasury, allowing servicers to target principal extinguishment to the borrowers where extinguishment is most appropriate.

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• Hope for Homeowners requires the holder of the mortgage to accept a payoff below the current market value of the home, allowing the borrower to refinance into a new FHA-guaranteed loan. Refinancing into a new loan below the home's market value takes a borrower from a position of being underwater to having equity in their home. By increasing a homeowner's equity in the home, Hope for Homeowners can produce a better outcome for borrowers who qualify.
• Under the changes announced today and, when evaluating borrowers for a Home Affordable Modification, servicers will be required to determine eligibility for a Hope for Homeowners refinancing. Where Hope for Homeowners proves to be viable, the servicer must offer this option to the borrower. Note mine: I really have no idea what this means, if you do, hit the comments box.
• Continuing to bolster its outreach around the program, the Administration also announced today a new effort to engage directly with homeowners via MakingHomeAffordable.gov. Starting today, homeowners will have the ability to submit individual questions through the website to the Administration's housing team. Members of the Treasury and HUD staffs will periodically select commonly asked questions and post responses on MakingHomeAffordable.gov. To submit a question, homeowners can visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov/feedback.html. Selected questions from homeowners across the country and responses from the Administration will be available at www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov/asked-and-answered.html.

More detailed Information:

• To read the press release -- go here.
• Second Lien Program Fact Sheet
• Second Lien Program Case Examples

Bob DeMarco is a citizen journalist and twenty year Wall Street veteran. Bob has written more than 500 articles with more than 11,000 links to his work on the Internet. Content from All American Investor has been syndicated on Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Pluck, Blog Critics, and a growing list of newspaper websites. Bob is actively seeking syndication and writing assignments.

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