Press Release – HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES NEW FHA-MAKING HOME AFFORDABLE LOAN MODIFICATION GUIDELINES
New FHA guidelines projected to help thousands avoid foreclosure per year
WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has implemented changes to its loan modification program to ensure consistency with the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program. By August 15, FHA borrowers will be able to significantly reduce their monthly mortgage payments by seeking a loan modification through their current mortgage company or loan servicer under the new FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP).
“Today, we’re bringing another important tool to the table to help struggling families who are desperate to keep their homes,” said Donovan. “Tens of thousands of FHA borrowers will now be able to modify their mortgages in the same manner as so many others who are taking advantage of the Administration”s Making Home Affordable program. This is just the latest tool we are providing to help homeowners prevent foreclosures through the Making Home Affordable program. Earlier this month we announced an expansion of the Home Affordable Refinance Program to borrowers who are up to 125 percent underwater. Together, these actions will significantly increase the help available to homeowners.”
The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, signed into law on May 20, allows FHA to give qualified FHA-insured borrowers the opportunity to reduce their monthly mortgage payment by modifying the mortgage through FHA-HAMP. FHA released the program’s implementation guidelines today. FHA expects all servicers to implement the changes by August 15. The program permanently reduces a family’s monthly mortgage payment through the use of a partial claim, which defers the repayment of mortgage principal through an interest-free subordinate mortgage that is not due until the first mortgage is paid off.
FHA has used the partial claim option in the past, which allows a lender to advance funds on behalf of a borrower, to reinstate a delinquent loan that was up to 12 months delinquent. Now, this program will allow HUD to bring the borrower’s payment down to an affordable level. This will be accomplished by bringing the mortgage current, buying down the loan by up to 30 percent of the unpaid principal balance and deferring these amounts in a partial claim.
FHA will pay an incentive to loan servicers for each FHA loan modified under this program. A Mortgagee Letter, along with detailed requirements for the FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program, was distributed to all FHA lenders today. The implementation of this program will further the Obama Administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market by helping homeowners to stay current on their mortgages and stay in their homes, therefore preventing the destructive impact of foreclosures on families and communities.
Making Home Affordable, a comprehensive plan to stabilize the U.S. housing market, was first announced by the Obama Administration on February 18. More than 200,000 trial loan modifications are already underway, tens of thousands of refinancings have closed, and informational mailings about the program have been sent to more than one million borrowers who may be eligible.
FHA borrowers who are experiencing difficulty making their mortgage payments should contact their loan servicer or HUD’s National Servicing Center at (888) 297-8685 to determine if they qualify for the FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program. The Mortgagee Letter, with detailed information about the program, is available on the HUD website. Non-FHA borrowers can find information about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable program at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.
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HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.
HUD http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-137.cfm&CFID=19451152&CFTOKEN=75042953
HUD No. 09-137
Lemar Wooley
(202) 708-0685
www.hud.gov/news/
the fha program is good but they need to lower peoplkes balances
To whom it may concern, Iput in for a loan modification through bank of america in end of april, beginning of may 2010. every time i checked the status i was told that the underwriters wer still looking at my file, be patient. when i rechecked by getting intouch with a person who had called me, whom works for them {boa} i was informed that instead of a loan modification through bank of america like i beleived it was , it instead was a fha modification or so i was told, to which i have heard nothing back from either of them concerning anything. i still receive statements from bank of america in amounts they know i cannot pay, no other information about the modification at all. they have now dropped the insurance for the house and i do not know what else to expect . damages were done to the roof and front porch eariler this year by a bad wind strom, they sent an inspector, added 1000.00 deductable, to my mortage , sent me a check for 669.00,which i used to make repairs as well as i could. do not know what happened to the deductable as no one came from them in concern of repairs required. so did i get charged for nothing, roof still leaks and ceilings are damaged. what happened to the 1000.00 they added on to me? i really need help in knowing what program i am under, it would help me sleep better at night , instead of worring that i am going to be put out of my home, the home in which my husband died in 2008. bank of america has all my paper work necessary and that was asked for by them. please help me out i need an answer. my account number is 006307758, address 829 east 146th st. , cleveland, ohio 44110, phone # 216-761-8052 . countrywide was bad enough ripping me off and now bank of america too. i already lost my husband and now i fear that i will lose the home we had together and he died in . please help me , waiting to hear form you , thank you for your time and help, odette spears-campbell
I have been requesting a loan modifiaction from Bank of America (BOA)for over a year now. I have gotten down to underwriters only for them to calculate the wrong income and then decline me leaving me to have to start the process all over. I have an FHA loan and they are haveing me to fax in document after document. I have been declined for a document that I was told was not on file and when I spoke to another agent, they saw it. I am very tired of the run around and I feel like it is a game that they play. I have spoken with upper management who could not help me.I would like some help with getting my modification processed and completed. I losted a great deal of income and that has caused my hardship. My account number is 211100416. I can be comtacted at 972-748-3723.