Government Helps Housing Industry by ‘Making Home Affordable’

Are you worried about purchasing a new home in Atlanta because you are afraid the monthly payments will be too expensive? Well stop worrying. In an effort to stabilize our economy, the government has created Making Home Affordable. Throughout the year Making Home Affordable will help up to 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels. 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.

On May 14 Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan provided an update on the impact Making Home Affordable has made on the housing industry and keeping families in their homes as well as new options for homeowners facing foreclosure. In just two months the Making Home Affordable program has helped more than one million Americans refinance. Due to the popularity of Making Home Affordable, Fannie Mae has had over 233,000 eligible refinance applications through its refinancing program, with more than 51,000 of these having loan-to-value ratios between 80% and 105%. More than 55,000 Home Affordable Modification offers have been extended to qualifying borrowers.

New Foreclosure Alternatives provide incentives for servicers and borrowers to pursue short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) of foreclosure in cases where the borrower is generally eligible for a MHA modification but does not qualify or is unable to complete the process. This helps prevent foreclosures and minimizes the damage that foreclosures impose on borrowers, financial institutions and communities.

Programs such as Making Home Affordable show us that there is hope for the housing market as we work our way through the economic crisis. For more information on this program and to determine whether or not you are eligible, visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.