Getting Federal Help For Your Mortgage Problems.
If you are one of the millions of people having trouble with your mortgage, the government is going to try to help you out a little. They are putting about $75 billion dollars into the housing industry to help homeowners refinance and/or modify their mortgages. However, not everyone who is having trouble is eligible, as there are restrictions on who can qualify. Some important points to review before trying to apply for help:
For loan refinancing
- You must be current on your payments and your mortgage must have fallen below the 20% equity threshold.
- Loan must be owned by (or have been packaged by) Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
- The loan must not exceed 105% of the market value of your house.
For loan modification
- Home must be your primary residence.
- Loan must have been taken out prior to January 2009.
- Loan must be for less than $730,000
- I believe you must enroll in debt counseling to be accepted.
I have written before (and got a ton of comments) about my thoughts on people who knowingly took on more than they could pay for, and I hope the government has something in place to help only those who made the right decisions and really need the help. For instance, I don’t own a house – because I couldn’t afford the payments in California at the time. That’s what financially responsible people do, and only those who have experienced real hardship/job loss/medical issues/plummeting house values should get much assistance from the Federal Government.
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Related Websites:
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Thanks for sharing this information, and for being realistic about your opposition to mortgage assistance from the government. Too often people are simply opposed to it, when people (can you tell I’m one of them) who are not irresponsible are caught in the middle of it.
For me it is a bit of a perfect storm. It began for me with the unprecedented rise in property taxes in my area (half of my monthly mortgage payment is now paid to my escrow account for property taxes) which caused me to leave my salaried job and take a commissioned sales job because it was the only way I would be able to keep up on things. Then the economy tanked, and suddenly my income dropped along with it, but the mortgage still had to be paid. Things are starting to come around with my sales job, and so I see some light at the end of the tunnel, but catching up will not be easy. I think if more people who criticized the aid being offered in the mortgage crisis were aware of the situations many are facing they would be more realistic in their criticisms.
I don’t live in a very expensive house, which I actually bought because at the time (before the taxes went through the roof) it was cheaper than renting. Now, though I am afraid, it might be worth less than I owe on it.
Be sure to take advantage of some of these programs to help you stay in your house, Alissa!