FHA helps 400,000 families find mortgage reliefMortgagePress.comFHA, HUD, FHASecure, Steve Preston
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve
Preston announced that 400,000 families have refinanced their
mortgages with HUD's affordable mortgage insurance program. Since
expanding its refinance program in September 2007, HUD's Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) has helped more distressed homeowners
keep their homes by utilizing FHA's safe and affordable mortgage
financing. FHA refinancing is on pace to help 500,000 families by
the end of this year.
"Thanks to FHA's expanded programs, hundreds of thousands of
families now have peace of mind knowing they have a stable, more
affordable mortgage," said Preston. "Today, we are proud to say
that FHA has helped more than 400,000 struggling families keep
their homes while also creating greater liquidity in the mortgage
market."
Since its creation in 1934, FHA has helped more than 35 million
families become homeowners. Nationwide, the number of mortgages
insured by FHA was nearly three times higher in the third quarter
of calendar year 2008, compared to the same time last year. By
requiring full income and employment documentation, FHA products
are underwritten to ensure borrowers have the ability to repay the
loan. FHA also continues to offer unprecedented loss mitigation
assistance to homeowners. FHA's loss mitigation efforts have helped
about 300,000 families keep their homes over the last three
years.
Timeline: Expanding FHA's refinance program to help
families stay in their homes
• August 2007: President Bush launches a new initiative at
HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) called FHASecure to help
hundreds of thousands of struggling homeowners - especially
low-income families and minorities - avoid foreclosure. This
product expanded FHA's ability to offer refinancing to homeowners
who have good credit histories, but cannot afford their mortgage
payments after their teaser rates reset. May 2008 - FHA helps
200,000 families refinance their mortgages since September 2007.
July 2008 - FHA expands FHASecure to help homeowners with
adjustable rate subprime mortgages who can no longer afford their
mortgages and missed up to three monthly mortgage payments over the
past 12 months. Rather than go into foreclosure, eligible borrowers
can refinance with FHA and lenders can voluntarily write down the
outstanding subprime mortgage principal balances.
• August 2008: FHA helps 300,000 families refinance their
mortgages since September 2007.
• October 2008: HUD launches the HOPE for Homeowners
program to refinance mortgages for eligible borrowers who are
having difficulty making their payments, but, after a write-down in
principal, can afford a new loan insured by HUD's Federal Housing
Administration (FHA).
• October 2008: FHA helps 400,000 families refinance their
mortgages since September 2007.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov.
