You heard talk about a mortgage assistance program in February. It was the stimulus program flavor of the week lumped in between some plans to help small business owners, senior citizens, the environment...all seeming like eons before we became obsessed with a certain bonus package from a certain bailout recipient. You know what I'm talking about.
Way back when, I had heard stories about the mortgage assistance program and a host of rumors that made me think that I (and apparently no one else it was designed to help) would never qualify.
But alas, that might not be the case.
The aforementioned program is actually two programs. That might be part of the reason that rumors are abound.
1. Home Affordable Refinancing: For homeowners who are current on their payments of a loan owned/guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac with the balance of the loan equal or less than the current value of the loan.
2. Home Affordable Modification: For homeowners who live in the home as their primary residence, acquired the loan before 01/01/09 and the first mortgage (if you have more than one, this is the largest one) is not more than $729,750. Your monthly payment for the first mortgage (including any principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner's association dues, but not PMI) is more than 31% of your GROSS monthly income and you are having trouble paying your mortgage (your mortgage payment recently increased, your income had decreased since the mortgage was secured, or you have medical or other hardship bills that make payments difficult).
Because you probably wouldn't guess it on your own, the official website is http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/. They have a brief eligibility quiz (more or less asking about the requirements listed above) and then direct you to the appropriate page.
But don't get too excited, the rabbit at the end of that racetrack is just a recommendation to contact your lender, although it does give a list of the documents you should gather in advance of that phone call. You can also contact their hotline if you need counseling.
If you don't have a headache yet, you can open up the PDF attachment of Frequently Asked Questions. It's not the most user-friendly FAQ repository (make sure you're not looking at the questions in the other program's section).
It also doesn't specifically answer the question about qualifying if you are currently unemployed. Other websites make that connection based on the "reduction in your income since you got your current loan" clause.
As for me, I went to my lender's individual website, clicked on their own link for economic assistance and filled in the generic form to have someone contact me. We'll see what happens with that.
I've heard differing opinions, but it seems fairly consistent that lenders are delaying the foreclosure process for their loans. Having recently visited a real estate website and being awestruck by the average sale prices, I hardly blame them.
If anything comes from my online inquiry, I'll be sure to pass that information along.
As for the programs for small businesses or nutrition for senior citizens, well, I'm afraid you're on your own.
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