American Homeowners Offered Mortgage Help

by Peter Wakeford		comments 40
Published on 12 November 2008

Money | Mortgages

American Homeowners Offered Mortgage Help

The US government has stepped in with another support package for mortgage borrowers.

Homeowners in the United States are to benefit from a new agreement between the government and the mortgage industry. Under the deal, up to four million mortgage borrowers could see their repayments capped in an effort to halt a rise in repossessions.

The plan involves cutting interest rates on home loans packaged by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure that borrowers spend no more than 38 percent of their income on housing payments. In some cases, loans will be extended to bring down monthly bills.

According to the latest US Foreclosure Index from Foreclosures.com, mortgage lenders repossessed 84,286 properties in October. The website said foreclosures are likely to be a major issue facing president-elect Barack Obama when he takes over from George Bush in January.

James Lockhart, director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, said: "Foreclosures hurt families, their neighbours, whole communities and the overall housing market. We need to stop this downward spiral."

To qualify for mortgage help under the new plan, homeowners have to be at least three months in arrears and owe more than 90 percent of the value of their home. According to the Guardian, 500,000 US citizens are currently in the process of losing their property.

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Comments (40)

mary

my husband lose his making 16.00 and hour finally find a job making 8.00 and hour cnat afford to pay our morage and cant seam to get any help with my mortgage company or any one else what am i supose to do help pleasa

18 May 2009 13:55

tony

Why not give the homeowners a voucher for 10 to 15 thousand dollars to put on your home mortgage that would help the banks and the home owner.

13 Mar 2009 14:59

Heidi

My husband and I are strugling to pay our bills. For some reason my bank keeps uping my morgage payment, I don't have an adjustable rate I have a fixed rate. I already file for bankruptsy last year and got my discharge. If I don't get some help I will lose my house, everything we have worked for

4 Mar 2009 01:45

Kim Hazen

This is not a comment rather than a cry for information. We just bought a house in June 2008 now its feburary 3rd and my husband just got layed off. Is there any help out there for us so we don't end up in foreclosure? I would appreiciate any help. Thank-you

4 Feb 2009 23:47

R. EASTMAN

I'm a 40 yr. old married man w/a young family. Back in 94 i started my own small bus,-then in 99 i got mixed into a bad life altering medical situation that left me personally disabled do to the fact that the dr.s treating me overloaded me with 1000's of mg of meds--strung my family and i around for 8 yrs.-they got $18million in fees and left me unable to work and support my 2 young kids and wife. Then the dr.s kicked me out w/no care. Being legally disalbed has some extra legal laws--however the "bailout" programs don't care anymore than wells fargo whom holds our mortgage-they keep sending us "you may qualify for a mod." but they never get past the "what is your income and expense". and now my wife has become mentally unstable do to the situation. and has been hospital ized. What are we supposed to do? we live in NH and it's in the middle of winter. with no cash in a small town. are we supposed to put our children in the SNOW BANK? if anyone can suqqest anything. please commet

2 Feb 2009 06:41

dummy

yes, the problem is the VALUES of the properties. you can't get refinanced if the house is worth $60,000 less then you owe!!!!!!!

13 Jan 2009 08:10

Igornachov

This is ridiculous. Instead the government should help those who are paying on time their mortgage for a property that is under the market price and owe more than 90%. If the government decides to help ONLY those who are at least 90 DAYS behind, then that will mean promoting on-time payers to stop doing it so that they can be helped. If government will help only those that are behind then I am not going to be the only one who will stop paying and relax my back waiting for the government's help. Obama should think a little about this. The rule should change and banker should take a loook at those payers and put them in a better situation by revising the actual price of their properties, changing the debt to a fair value and resign the mortgage even at the same rate the payers initially accepted. The problem IS NOT THE RATE. The problem IS THE ACTUAL VALUE OF THE PROPERTY.

11 Jan 2009 03:49

mike

why should the people that cant pay get all the help when they are the main people causein this mess in the first place my payment has went from 1200 witch i can afford to 1900 because everyone else dont pay there bills i have never been late not once for 4 years now the bank will not help me because i am not 3 months behind yet!That is a stupid rule ,every home owner in america should atomaticly get a 4% interest rate locked with no refie they make everything to compicatedthat would save every bodys house and maybe spur some new housing!!!!! they ar all crooks

30 Dec 2008 02:40

Chris

Citi Mortgage will not work with us to save our house now even more due to them getting the government $300billion. FHA stated that they are just turning the loss over to HUD and HUD will pay Citi for their loss. So it ends up that Citi will get paid for not having to work with the homeowner. They at this point just stated oh well. This is wrong and I don't know who else to report this to. FHA recomended for me to complain to the federal trade commision, so I did and they stated they will file the complaint, but they do not handle individual complaints. Where else do I go?

18 Dec 2008 09:44

Charlotte Holtry

Today, Wachovia Mortgage refused to accept a partial payment of $500 on a $767 per month mortgage loan. I have already missed one payment and have filled out and sent in the required paperwork to have them consider lowering my interest rate which they say may take 60 days. What help can I get and why are they refusing the partial payment when someone had to bail them out?

15 Dec 2008 17:43

Linda

It seems to me to be good if you lost your job and have been looking for one everyday but cant find one. Because of the area you live. I want to pay my bills but cant. Whats wrong with a little help if your tring.Besides I don't live in a house I couldn't afford IF I could find a job.

10 Dec 2008 14:13

tipn

yep, I'm so far in debt they won't help me. Does that make sense? So much for the governments help...if they don't help the ones in debt who do they help? Oh that's right...the CEO's

2 Dec 2008 18:37

G. Hall

how do you get help when you are about to loose your home?

24 Nov 2008 19:42

disabled

A sudden unexpected and relenting illness and a work disability insurance company who refuses to pay - - so what do I do? The SS disability and insurance disability process is so slow and uncertain. Taking months and months and months. The stress makes me worse physically. I can't stand that I can't work- it is so demeaning. Now to think I have to forgo payments for 3 straight months- what if then the mortgage rescue process takes a long time and by then I am so behind I'll never catch up. I'm scared to death I will be on the street. No health insurance now- since I can't work. No home. No hope.

22 Nov 2008 14:31

littleowl

"... repossessed 84,286 properties in October... 500,000 US citizens are currently in the process of losing their property..." What happens to these poor people??? Where do they go? Do they end up homeless, with a ruined credit rating? What help is available to all these people? Human beings need true security - so much more than a loan... in a scandalous housing lottery...

15 Nov 2008 00:05

Anita

Yes, how do we get in line for this help? and where ? Does this help both FHA and Conventional Loan borrowers?

13 Nov 2008 20:20

creative279

Sounds pretty good. Hope it executes on time.

13 Nov 2008 19:05

BonnieJ

AMEN to that, you might as well save your money. Not pay your mortgage, join the ranks of poor credit, everyone will be there with you. When the ecomony picks up you think they won't lend you money. No chance, you earn enough you'll get the credit.

13 Nov 2008 19:03

f gomez

i still owe the full price of my morgage . how can i get the help i need i am a retiree.

13 Nov 2008 18:49

Joe

Let the 500,000 lose the homes that they never should of had in the first place. How about a rebate for those of us that did the right thing and lived with in our means!!!!

13 Nov 2008 18:47

mlynch

i have a mortgage with indy mac bank, does this also apply to me and my situation?

13 Nov 2008 18:24

Amazed

So if you work hard and pay your bills - living paycheck to paycheck - you get nothing. But if you live beyond your means and are completely irresponsible - you get rewarded. Wow - this country is getting goofier and goofier!!

13 Nov 2008 18:21

Paul Phillips

This is not enough -- this is the "root" of this entire mess.. Fix the roots and the plant does NOT die - you don't and........ Try this: 1. Instead of putting all that $1Trillion or so at the front of the problem -- put it AT THE PROBLEM. 2. Install a "subsidy" in interest to the banks to keep any loan to value which is at 90% or more to a 4% loan with increases of 1/4 point every 6 month to "market" interest --- the house stays in the hands of the owner. The neighborhood stays put. Extend all loans to "fixed fully amtized" for 80 years due in 40 years to keep low amortization in the beginning or till home is sold so that NO house will from this point on go into forclosure. 3. This will STOP the bottom feeding of this problem -- the 4-6 million forclosures now near 90 days in arrears will STOP. The banks will NOT have any more FIRE SALES - cash flow will increase into banks and that will create liquidity and then the money supply will move up. The tree will then stand up....

13 Nov 2008 18:11

Vicde

WAKE UP PEOPLE, our government's sole interest is to protect the corporate world. Middle class and under are kept under their thumb by contolling the dept ratio!

13 Nov 2008 17:56

chris g

will this only apply for those with loans with Freddie Mac and Sally Mae or will this help those with high interest loans with non-govt banks/companies?

13 Nov 2008 17:54

APC

So I should let my mortgage go unpaid for the next three months to qualify for this program?

13 Nov 2008 17:52

BillV

What about us dummies that have struggled to make payments and keep up to date. No relief in site unless I quit paying my payments. Had to take an equity loan to keep mortgage payments up. used up all retirement funds and have no place to go! Just doesn't seem fair.

13 Nov 2008 17:43

bernie

Sure,why not use taxpayers money to bail out some bar fly union jerk, just so the banker can smoke cigars and the local courts can get their tax dollar...........not the american way ,burn the sob down.

13 Nov 2008 16:26

Mike

U gotta luv this, "must be three months in arrears" I'm struggling like hell not to fall behind, so i'm not three months in arrears. I have no equity left in my home and 60% of my income goes to housing payments. So I guess I have to miss three months to qualify; how stupid is that. How about qualifying based on income vs debt. Geeeezus

13 Nov 2008 16:01

Mike

Call Hope for Homeowners they will help you get the help you need. And yes... Even, you do need to meet the qualifications. The is alot of information for Homeowners, look up HUD and it will answer alot of your questions. Hope this information will help!

13 Nov 2008 15:53

Fergie

GREAT! I am a retired teacher making 40% of my pay when I worked, have a house payment, huge medical bills, and can't get help from anyone. I'm lucky to have $30 dollars left in my account the end of the month. If anything needs to be repaired or replaced, I'm screwed. Again it's the people who took on too much debt who are getting the help. Where's my help? This system sucks. To hell with Wall Street. Let the bastards go broke. They'll sure as hell let me!

13 Nov 2008 15:41

Richard

So all of us homeowners that are paying each month on time get "0" and those who received a deal on their mortgages "0" down, sub prime interest rate get even more help! Were did all the money go when they paid less each month and I paid the going rate? At what point do they stop getting (Asking) for more. Credits cards, auto loans when will this stop!

13 Nov 2008 15:11

Edward

I think all home owners she get an interest rate cut. Why should the fool benefit when the wise suffers.

13 Nov 2008 14:02

NanH

AnnK...you are absolutely right. Why should you be three months late to qualify for help. There are plenty of us that have depleted our entire savings, including our 401K plans, trying to make the mortgage and to salvage our credit rating. Also, why am I paying $144 in PMI every month? Apparently it hasn't done enough any good in protecting these financial institutions anyway. PMI is just another scam.

13 Nov 2008 13:44

Bruce.

People should not buy a house they cant afford in the first place.It's not the goverment's job to help them out.Thats one thing thats wrong with this country now, people trying to live above there means.

13 Nov 2008 12:50

charlie h cooke

So what do you do to help the 401-k owners who have lost enough to buy a house due to the stock market debacle? The people you are helping had invested little and would lose a lot less. Why not allow capital gains tax losses to be deducted at the rate of 20000 per year?

13 Nov 2008 06:55

renuka

why you should be late for three months to qualify for this help.it will affect your credit.they should help even people who are current in payment check their current income and how much debt they have then help this home owners too .every homeowner needs help to lower their payments.

13 Nov 2008 04:47

Evan Peters

I was wondering if that plan specifically states weather you be both in arrears three months and in debt 90 percent, or if either circumstance would still be a quilifer?

13 Nov 2008 04:20

Kim Gutierrez

How do I get help? I need to know who to contact fast. I'm about to loose my house and land and have no one to help me and my two kids.

13 Nov 2008 03:57

AnnK

Once again, the struggling middle class Boomer will get the shaft. Managed to be behind just a month or two on your mortgage? Have income, but paying high medical bills for you and your spouse? NO help forthcoming. Those who try and ALMOST succeed in paying their bills are SOL again.

13 Nov 2008 03:17