As I described in a blog post on October 15th (What Exactly Is the Government's New "Hope for Homowners" Rescue Program?), the federal government's rescue program known as Hope for Homeowners is long on rhetoric and short on substance. As it turns out, it's been even more of a failure than I anticipated.

RHETORIC:  "The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 amends the National Housing Act to authorize a new temporary FHA mortgage insurance program called the HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) Program. Under this Program, certain borrowers facing difficulty in paying their mortgages will be eligible to refinance into affordable FHA-insured mortgages.  The H4H Program is effective for endorsements on or after October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2011."  -HUD Mortgagee Letter 2008-29, dated October 1, 2009 (plus numerous press conferences and media reports promoting this initiative)

REALITY: HUD has reported that it received a grand total of 111 loan applications for the H4H program in the month of October (that's 111 nationwide - not 1.1 million, not 111,000, not 11,000, not even 1,100), and NONE of those applications were approved. Complete and utter failure. FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery says they'll make changes to the H4H program so it "will continue to serve as another loss mitigation tool that can be used to help families keep their homes."

Excuse me? Continue what? NO families have been helped so far. This widely-publicized program has actually done a DIS-service to struggling homeowners by encouraging them to think that government help was on the way. It's been a perverse hoax perpetrated on the American public. People who should be pursuing a loan modification as soon as possible to prevent foreclosure and save their home have been lulled into thinking that they can relax because H4H will save them. Lofty-sounding federal initiatives are NOT working. Foreclosure notices are going out at a rate of more than 8,000 a day.

Mortgages ARE being modified on a loan-by-loan basis with dramatic, sustainable reductions in monthly payments. It takes initiative and effort, usually facilitated by professional negotiators who represent the homeowner and help to level the playing field. To discuss your situation and your options, call for a free consultation: James Wheeler, 813-600-3428.