Making Home Affordable Plan & Government Resources

• There are Financial Incentives and Actions to lower mortgage interest rates by supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and are designed to encourage lenders, servicers, investors to do loan modifications in order to help Homeowners facing hardship. It is important to understand that these are guidelines only and not federal laws.   

• The HAMP program does not include Homeowners who have Jumbo or Portfolio loans. They do not accept files for Investment Properties and Second Homes; they fall outside of President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program. Their sole focus is primary residences.   

• The recommendation has been to put the Homeowner on a trial period for three or more months before executing a permanent modification agreement that will lower your interest rate to fixed rate for only five years, and then will gradually adjust to the market rate cap that is determined on the day your loan was modified. 

• President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program states that loans can be modified only once under the program.
  
  

Making Home Affordable Program

•  President Obama’s official website for the Making Home Affordable Program http://makinghomeaffordable.gov - Updated regularly

•  Frequently Asked Questions - Revised March 18, 2009
What is “Making Home Affordable" all about?   http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/docs/borrower_qa.pdf

U.S. Department of the Treasury

• Summary of Guidelines for Loan Modifications. Go to bottom of page for links to both summary and detailed guidelines for Loan Modifications. www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/modification_program_guidelines.pdf

• Current Press Releases, including April 28, 2009 Guidelines on Second Mortgages and TARP             Transactions Reports www.financialstability.gov/latest

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD's mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.

•  HUD official website for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.  http://www.hud.gov  Most of these resources direct you to http://makinghomeaffordable.gov

•  Federal, State partners announce Multi-Agency crackdown targeting Foreclosure Rescue Scams, Loan Modification Fraud - April 6, 2009 http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-033.cfm

•  Foreclosure Avoidance Counseling http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/

•  HUD Glossary: Definitions of Real Estate Lending Terms http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/buying/glossary.cfm

•  Loan Limits for FHA Mortgages  https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm

HOPE NOW

HOPE Now is an alliance between HUD approved counseling agents, mortgage companies, investors and other mortgage market participants that provide free foreclosure prevention assistance. Call 1-888-995-HOPE

•  www.hopenow.com official website   

Foreclosure Law

• foreclosurelaw.org This site gives specific information, per state, about foreclosure laws.

Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress with a mission to provide liquidity and stability to the U.S. housing and mortgage markets.

Fannie Mae operates in the U.S. secondary mortgage market. Rather than making home loans directly with consumers, they work with mortgage bankers, brokers, and other primary mortgage market partners to help ensure they have funds to lend to home buyers at affordable rates. They fund their mortgage investments primarily by issuing debt securities in the domestic and international capital markets.

•  Refinance and Modification Options and official website http://www.fanniemae.com/homepath/homeowners/in_foreclosure.jhtml

•  Loan Limits for Conventional Mortgages 
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/loanlimits/index.jsp

Freddie Mac 

Freddie Mac's mission is to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market.

Freddie Mac forms the framework for their business lines, shapes the products they bring to market and drives the services they provide to the nation's housing and mortgage industry. Everything they do comes back to making America's mortgage markets liquid and stable and increasing opportunities for homeownership and affordable rental housing across the nation.

• Avoiding Foreclosure and official website http://www.freddiemac.com/avoidforeclosure/

Ginnie Mae

At Ginnie Mae, they help make affordable housing a reality for millions of low and moderate-income households across America by channeling global capital into the nation's housing markets. 

Ginnie Mae guaranty allows mortgage lenders to obtain a better price for their mortgage loans in the secondary market. The lenders can then use the proceeds to make new mortgage loans available. What Ginnie Mae does is guarantee investors the timely payment of principal and interest on MBS backed by federally insured or guaranteed loans -
mainly loans insured by the FHA, VA, RHS, PIH 

  http://www.ginniemae.gov

•  Additional definitions of Real Estate Lending Terms http://www.ginniemae.gov/resources/mortgage_terms.asp?section=YPTH