Homeowners’ hope: Hundreds of thousands could get more affordable loans in government effort aimed at keeping people in their homes.
The government kicked off a program Wednesday that aims to prevent foreclosures by letting an estimated 400,000 troubled homeowners swap their mortgages for more affordable loans.
Lenders, rather than borrowers, will decide whether to participate in the program, which requires them to take a loss on the initial loan. The $300 billion, three-year program is designed to help borrowers who owe more on their loans than their homes are worth.
To qualify, borrowers must be spending more than 31 percent of their income on mortgage payments. Loans made this year are excluded, except for those completed on Jan. 1. Borrowers must have made six months of payments on their loans.
“For homeowners in trouble, this may be the help that they need,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said Wednesday. Officials did not have an updated estimate of how many homeowners were likely to qualify, beyond the Congressional Budget Office’s projection from earlier this year that 400,000 borrowers would participate.
The program, dubbed “Hope for Homeowners,” was passed by Congress this summer as part of a massive housing bill. It is one of several government efforts to stem the mortgage crisis.
Critics, however, call the government’s actions sluggish and inadequate. Earlier action to modify loans, they say, might have prevented the need for a $700 billion financial industry bailout now being debated in Washington.
Executives from Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo said they have been hiring extra workers for the new program.
Still, it is unclear whether the industry will embrace the plan fully. One concern is that investors in mortgage securities must take an immediate loss and can’t recoup their lost money if home prices turn upward again.
Investors would rather modify loans in ways that maintain the ability to “share in future appreciation,” JPMorgan Chase executive Marguerite Sheehan said last month.
On Monday, a group of state banking and law enforcement officials released a report that said nearly 80 percent of borrowers with subprime loans were not on track for assistance to avoid foreclosure as of May.
The report by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group criticized the lending industry for making only small changes to loan terms and noted that about one in five loans that were modified over the past year became delinquent again.
“While banks and Wall Street firms continue to report record write-downs of mortgage loan portfolios and securities, the losses do not appear to be flowing down to homeowners in the form of sustainable loan modifications,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a founder of the state effort, said in a statement.
KEEPING HOMEOWNERS IN THEIR HOUSES
About 400,000 homeowners are eligible for a new program that aims to refinance their troubled mortgages and prevent foreclosure.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
The program refinances mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments but can afford a new loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
You’re eligible if:
> The home is your primary residence, and you have no ownership interest in any other residential property.
> Your mortgage was originated on or before Jan. 1, 2008, and you have made at least six payments.
> You cannot pay the existing mortgage without help.
> As of March 2008, your total monthly mortgage payments were more than 31 percent of your gross monthly income.
REQUIREMENTS FOR LENDERS AND BORROWERS
> The maximum loan is $550,440.
> The new mortgage will be no more than 90 percent of the new appraised value.
> The new appraised value includes an Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium of 3 percent. Borrowers also pay an Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium of 1.5 percent.
> Standard FHA closing costs apply.
> The borrower must agree to share with FHA both the equity created at the beginning of this new mortgage and any future appreciation in the value of the home.
> The borrower cannot take out a second mortgage for the first five years of the loan, except under certain circumstances for emergency repairs.
> Holders of existing mortgage liens must waive all prepayment penalties and late payment fees. Existing subordinate lenders must release their outstanding mortgage liens.
> The existing first mortgage must accept the proceeds of the new loan as full settlement of all outstanding indebtedness.
Source: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Labels: hope for homeowners, housing and urban development, mortgage swap
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Brian Vanderhoff @ 7:56 AM
