Making Home Affordable is a program the government has introduced to help stabilize the housing market and help Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels.

Eligible participants may have the opportunity to either refinance or modify their residential mortgage loans. The Home Affordable Refinance Program gives up to 4 to 5 million homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments.

The Home Affordable Modification Program commits $75 billion to keep up to 3 to 4 million Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures. The website I mentioned above provides homeowners with detailed information about these programs along with self-assessment tools and calculators to empower borrowers with the resources they need to determine whether they might be eligible for a modification or a refinance under the Administration’s program.

It may help you refinance your mortgage into a more affordable payment.
H4H is voluntary. Both lender(s) and borrower(s) must agree to participate.

You should contact your lender to determine eligibility, but you might be eligible if:

• The home is your primary residence, and you have no ownership interest in any other residential property, such as second homes.
• Your existing mortgage was originated on or before January 1, 2008 and you have made at least six payments.
• You are not able to pay your existing mortgage without help.
• As of March 2008, your total monthly mortgage payments due were more than 31 percent of your gross monthly income.
• You certify that you have not been convicted of fraud in the past 10 years, intentionally defaulted on debts; and did not knowingly or willingly provide material false information to obtain existing mortgage(s).

Here is a little more information on the HOPE program and some of the costs that might be involved.

• The new mortgage, if approved, will replace all of the current mortgages on your home. You will not owe any payments, fees or debts on mortgages you now hold.
• You must agree to share both the equity created at the beginning of this new mortgage and a portion of any future appreciation in the value of your home.
• In addition to an upfront mortgage insurance payment of 3%, you will pay a 1.5% annual mortgage insurance premium on your outstanding mortgage balance. This premium will be included in your monthly payments.
• You will need to pay closing costs on the loan. You will receive a Good Faith Estimate of these costs.

• Review the Frequently Asked Questions page at www.fha.gov HOPE
• Contact an FHA-approved lender to apply. You can find a list of lenders at FHA

This is information from the government and something I definitely should be made available to you.

Government Help to Stop Foreclosures

Many advocates reason the there needs to be an increase in government help to stop foreclosures. With the recent increase in foreclosure rates, many politicians are pushing for government “bail out” for the institutions that offered sub prime mortgages.

What the average consumer doesn’t realize is that there are many government, state and federal, that are already in place to help stop foreclosure. When looking for information on government help to stop foreclosures, the internet is a great place to look.

The HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) has many programs in place to offer government help to stop foreclosures. The HUD web site offers many tips and suggestions for home owners that find themselves in financial difficulty and impending foreclosure.

The most important step is to have open communication with your lender. The federal government has incentive programs in place for the lender to help avoid foreclosure. There is significant assistance available for those that communicate with their lender early in the foreclosure process. HUD also has approved foreclosure counselors that will offer individualized help.

A recent collaboration of HUD/Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Labor and mortgage lenders has provided valuable information regarding government help to stop foreclosures. If you are facing financial difficulties due to job loss, military service, or natural disasters, there are many programs providing government help to stop foreclosures. Contacting any one of these agencies is an important step in gathering information to help you keep your home.

Victims of a natural disaster have special government help to stop foreclosure that has been made available through the national government. If you were a victim of a national tragedy, like the attacks of September 11, 2001, there may still be help available through the disaster relief plans that the federal government has in place. Military families that are suffering financial hardship due to deployment or disabilities caused during active duty also qualify for special programs to help them keep their homes.

The most important step when looking for government help to stop foreclosures is to contact your lender. Lenders will have the most up to date information on what government programs are available and can tell you if you qualify for any of them. Lenders have workout options that help you keep your home.

These options will work best if you are only 1-2 payments behind, so contact your lender early. The farther behind you get, the fewer options there are to deal with. Government help to stop foreclosures is available; you just have to act early to be able to benefit from most of these options.