Meanwhile, the HUD Hope For Homeowners act becomes reality on October 1. Here is info

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?_pageid=73,3947211&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Homeowners May Already Be Eligible For Assistance

Families should not wait to seek mortgage relief. Right now, homeowners can determine if they are already eligible for mortgage assistance through FHASecure, FHA’s existing refinancing program. They can obtain information through either of the following options:

1. Contact a local, HUD-approved housing counseling agency at HUD.gov;
2. Contact the HOPE NOW Alliance at 1-888-995-HOPE

Sustainable, Affordability Homeownership

Hope for Homeowners maintains FHA’s long-standing requirement that new loans be based on a family’s long-term ability to repay the mortgage. FHA only allows owner-occupants to be eligible for FHA-insured mortgages. Borrowers must also meet the following eligibility criteria:

Their mortgage must have originated on or before January 1, 2008;
Their mortgage debt-to-income must be at least 31 percent;
They cannot afford their current loan;
They did not intentionally miss mortgage payments; and
They do not own second homes.
Features of FHA-insured loans under the new program include:

30-year, fixed rate mortgage;
Maximum 90 percent loan-to-value ratio;
No prepayment penalties;
$550,440 maximum mortgage amount;
Extinguishment of any subordinate liens; and
New home appraisals from FHA-approved appraisers.

[SoCalDem]

1. "...$550,440 maximum mortgage amount; ..." I take issue with this part

If you have that high of a mortgage, you are definitely making a shitload of money..(using the 31% formula)..and perhaps you should not be "in trouble"....

The HELP should be INCOME based..not MORTGAGE based..

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. There are some areas of the country where that actually buys a pretty mundane house

like in Southern California, parts of New York and New Jersey, etc.

I think the part that is more questionable is the 90% loan to value ratio, since one of the major points of this whole real estate implosion is that values have dropped and equity has disappeared and many are into negative equity.

I wonder how many people this program will actually help.