The Hope For Homeowners Program (H4H) was recently released in October of 2008. The program seems like it would be a great solution to some homeowners out there that are in trouble. The problem is that I don't know of ANY lenders or banks that are actively participating in the program. I have spoken to a number of my colleagues and they also don't know of any lenders that are currently participating in the program. I heard a rumor that Countrywide may be participating in the program shortly, but I can't confirm this.

The H4H program will refinance mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments, but can afford a new loan insured by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The program was created by Congress as part of HR 3221 (Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008). The program became effective from October 1, 2008 and is destined to end September 30, 2011.

Basically the program works like this; the homeowners home is assesed at current market value. The homeowners loan would be re-written to 90% of the new assesed value, thus having 10% equity. The future equity increase would need to be shared with HUD. There's mortgage insurance (MI) of 3% upfront and 1.5% annual MI premium.

If you have any solid information on this subject, please feel free to elaborate - thanks in advance.

Gerard Ladalardo, CMPS
www.caloanpros.com