On behalf of Law Offices of Mark M. Kratter, LLC on January 28, 2012
The White House recently announced the creation of a new program that will hopefully help stem the number of foreclosure filings in Connecticut. The new program is called the Home Affordable Refinance Program and will hopefully allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages before they are forced into foreclosure or short sales.
The government also said that it would expand its embattled Home Affordable Modification Program to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Home Affordable Modification Program's first three years came under fire for the red tape that many homeowners had to go through. It was also unclear whether banks were fully on board with this program or properly equipped to deal with the massive amount of modification requests.
Homeowners say that bank officials repeatedly lost documents whereas many banks claim that the documents were never submitted to them in the first place. The result is many failed loan modifications and preventable foreclosures. The White House said that the program will be revamped and extended to 2013. The financial incentives for banks who participate in the program will also be tripled. Maybe the additional financial incentive will make banks more willing to work with homeowners to help the homeowners avoid the stress of the foreclosure process.
Less than half of the applicants to the program have had their mortgage payments successfully lowered on a permanent basis. The White House has begun to withhold financial incentives from the banks that it feels are not doing enough to help homeowners stay in their homes.
"While government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief," President Obama said in Tuesday's State of the Union address.
Source: Associated Press, "Obama administration to extend and expand foreclosure relief program," Jan. 27, 2012
