132,260 New Listings - November 2009 - Last update November 6, 2009 12:30 PM EST 
Government Takes Steps To Help Foreclosure Victims
In mid-August, the federal government took the first meaningful steps to provide aid for victims of the mortgage foreclosure crisis that has been sweeping the United States this year. The goal of the new initiative is to help more American families keep their homes by providing an alternative not previously available.
The new foreclosure prevention initiative, called FHA Secure, is administered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and is a mortgage insurance program for borrowers who have good credit but have still fallen behind in monthly payments due to resetting interest rates that increased those payments significantly. Under the terms of this initiative, the FHA can offer homeowners and affordable option that permits them to refinance their existing mortgages and make payments. This program, along with other FHA programs, will provide important help to more than 240,000 families. The target for the initiative is families who could have a foreclosed home due to the unavailability of refinancing options.
In addition, the FHA has 2,300 approved housing counselors nationwide and has increased funding for housing counseling by 200% since 2001. The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced more than $44 million in grants for new housing counseling grants to more than 400 state and local programs.
It is the government’s contention that many US consumers must be educated because many don’t read or understand their loan contracts and some don’t even try. The key here is to teach people how to read the ‘fine print’ in contracts before they commit to terms and conditions beyond their financial means and also when they should ask for assistance. President Bush has also asked Congress for an additional $50 million for housing counseling as part of his new budget.
It appears that federal and state authorities have finally taken some firm steps to halt the growing mortgage foreclosures and housing industry slump that might be the beginning of a recession. Officials have also reached out to groups that offer foreclosure prevention counseling and refinancing assistance through a program called HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance to help more people keep their homes. This is a ‘partnership’ that includes many large mortgage servicers, housing counselors, investors and trade organizations committed to expanding mortgage refinancing options and helping homeowners to understand loan agreements before bad things take place.
Given these steps, it appears that the US government has finally taken some firm actions to help. For many homeowners, however, it comes too late.
Some state governments are taking similar steps to aid their homeowners caught-up in the mortgage foreclosure crisis. In Michigan, for example, there is a proposal to make loans available through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to permit qualified borrowers to refinance their mortgages at lower rates, thus avoiding the huge increases of foreclosures for sale and from the resetting of adjustable rate mortgages.
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My mortgage company has put my house in foeclosure because I was behind 5 payments. I sent them all 5 payments on March 27,2008 priority mail this was befor the end of the 5th month. They claim they never recieved it and post office claims they dont have it either. In the mean time I had not recieved any letters or notices to the fact that they were forcloseing. I was not giving any chances to try and fix this matter. I have a FHA loan what can I do about this?
Mark,
The best thing for you to do is to check to see if those funds you tried to send are still in your bank account, or wherever you had them. If so, cancel the check or money order you sent via mail. After you have done that, call your lender and ask for the “Loss Mitigation” or “Home Retention” department. When you talk to them, they will tell you exactly how and where to pay the payments. These departments are the only ones authorized to stop your foreclosure.
Hope this helps,
Kevin
Hello,
I need some help here! I filed a les pendance prior to foreclosure. I have been in my home 6-years and invested $80K in the purchase of this home. I just got a bad loan as I was forced to refi after being out of work due to illness. I am hoping to find an organization who can help?
I have a second on the home that I cannot afford. Lost employment. What happens with them. Can they take my home if I am still paying my first? I have a rental property too, can they attach to that in any way?
Tami
My home is due to go into foreclosure on November 23rd, we are behind 4 payments. We tried submitting partial payments but Bank of America sends them back and said they will not accept partial payments. We have two mortgages one is with Fannie Mae.Are there any programs that might be able to save my home, are credit is not so good either. Its been a bad year!!
[...] aim of the websites is to help the homeowners connect with those authorities that can be from the government to help them to modify the loan or even start the process of loan modification. Many of the homeowners [...]
The government programs offer help but they have many qualifications. In many you can “save” your main and ONLY residence. You also need income qualifications (you can afford your home), which i think is good and also the house has to be in a range of price. They don’t want to save million dollar homes from foreclosure.
In http://www.hopenowmortgages.com/ there is a bunch of info related to the Programs from the government. It’s easy to read and understand
[...] Implementing these steps Government help foreclosures by reducing the number of foreclosed homes and help the borrowers and lender in retaining their [...]
Hi all!
As a fresh http://www.foreclosuredataonline.com user i just wanted to say hi to everyone else who uses this site
[...] You should know the steps of foreclosure. It is important for you to understand the procedure that is adopted by the bank or the lender. You [...]
My husband purchased a home under the pretense that it was FHA but turned into a bank mortgage with Bank of America that the seller told us that if we didn’t take it was going to cost us money for all they had done. Now he has taken ill and we have no income and are three months behind in our payments. I have been going in circles trying to work something out with the bank for those three months and am in fear of loosing our home. What can I do?
hi, i foreclosed on my house in 09/2008, what programs are out there to help people that have alreasy lost their home.
thanks
[...] the kind of situation the person is pushed into, the awareness of the different types involved in foreclosure helps them know how to handle the situation legally. Though this may sound peculiar, it is quiet useful [...]
I am facing foreclosure i need help to save our home
we have applied for loan modification and all our bank offered us was a $130. less a month on our mortgage and life of loan extended for another 10 years, so instead f 30 yr loan now is 40 yrs. i though the help was going to be better than that. what can i do now? i can not afford my mortgage and i dont want to loose my home.
we were foreclosed on in march 09. we tried to get the bank (WILSHIRE)to modify our loan but they wouldnt even talk to us.so one day when we were in work they sold our home. is there any loans out there for US???
My family lost a home we lived in and loved for 15 years.. to a forclosure a sheriff, actually at my door at 8:00 am screaming at us to grab out personal items and get out. We have 3 children who are the victims here. We have had to move 5 times, spending some summers at a campground, we now reside in my mothers tiny basement. It’s too late for us to save our home, but is there any help out there????
We were well able to make our mortgage payment until the economy went downhill and work hours were cut…we tried to refinance through our bank (option one) and were told we had to come up with a very large amount of money to be able to do this. We tried through two other banks with similar results and ended up losing our home anyway….with bad credit is there any help out there so that my family can have a home again??
My daughter has been trying for months to get help with her mortgage, she was laid off for a year and now has a job but it doesn’t pay what she was making and can’t afford her payments…Bank Of America is the biggest jerks of all…they refuse to help, deceived her into thinking they were helping and now, her house will be auctioned off on the 2 of Nov. we have tried to get help form various agencies to no avail…where is the help the gov. promised?? I am so sick of the false hope people give us…what is the bank going to accomplish? the house isn’t worth what she paid for it, they will lose over $200,000!! Wouldn’t it be better to help her stay in her house and make smaller payments?? I will shout from the rooftops for people NOT to deal with B Of A…ever!!!! they were bailed out but won’t give the same help to others…shame on you b of a….