Time for something that might shine a light in the dark…
In the mail today I got a letter from the Administrative Offices of the Community Lending Group – Records Division. the letter was telling me about the implementation of the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which will give eligible homeowners an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments. The HARP program is supposed to commit $75 billion to keep up to 4 million people in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.
For some of us who are under stress right now because we have mortgages that we want to pay and yet are unable to because we don’t have a yob right now, this is good news. The possibility that our situations could be made easier to deal with is very good news indeed. Let’s be clear there are some of us out here who want to work things out with the banks, be able to keep our homes and fight to keep what we have. There are those of us, like wifey and me, who want to pay what we owe and remain in our homes and not simply walk away like I have heard so many others do. We’re not asking for the entire debt to be forgiven (don’t misunderstand me – that would be nice, but I’m not counting on it) we’re just asking for a chance to make things right and some of us need some help in that regard.
I know that whenever I have seen one of these programs come up I have always given you guys some advice: “If it looks too good to be true…GOOGLE IT!!!”
Well today I decided to take my own advice and I Googled the program.
Imagine my surprise when I found out it was legit!
Yeah you read that right, it’s a legitimate program.
They gave me a phone number and a website that I can go to in order to determine our eligibility for this program. It’s a simple form you can fill out at HUD-Secure.org and once you give them the information they ask for (name, address, contact number, income, mortgage, value of your house, interest rate, etc.) they tell you that a rep will be in touch with you shortly.
I also found some other sites that deal with the same program:
There is a site called MakingHomeAffordable.gov that allows you to check your eligibility for these programs. You can learn if you are eligible for refinancing because the value of your house is less than your mortgage, or you can see in you’re eligible for modification if your income has gone down – like if you have been laid off of your job recently or have been out of work for an extended period of time. This is good news indeed for those of us who are unemployed and underutilized and don’t know where we can turn to.
Now for refinancing there is some fine print – the refinancing program will only help those whose mortgages are held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you don’t know then here is the site where you can check if your motgage is backed by Fannie Mae, and here is where you can check if your mortgage is backed by Freddie Mac. I’ve already checked our mortgage and it is not backed by either Fannie or Freddie, so we would need to go the modification route. In our case we have already made some modifications through Wells Fargo who holds it, but there might be some further modifications that we could make. We’ll just have to check and see.
This is good news for those of us out there who could use some good news right about now. It’s not really a bailout, but it is a lifeline that could buy some of us some needed time that will allow us to find employment, live up to our promises and get back on our feet. Like I have said before, we’re not looking for a handout, we’re not asking for government cheese, all we need is some time to make things right.
Now that’s change we can all believe in, isn’t it?
I hope that you are able to refinance your home. Why is it just Fannie Mae and Freddie are the ones pointed out? Bailouts went to so many others as well. Hopefully, someone will see that you are trying and will give you and your wife a break. I have my fingers crossed for you.
Right now, the news is stating that the best time to buy is now. Well, hard to do when so many are out of work. Granted the percentage is great but without work or not being on a job 6 months are more, banks don’t like to loan money, even if it is for new housing. Just this morning on CNN they showed new housing in California being torn down. Banks found that further construction of these homes wasn’t worth the effort, so instead of selling for others to fix up and move in, they tore them down. If you ask me, it was waste of good money in supplies and labor, and senseless.
Well we may not be eligible for refinancing, but we are still eligible for restructuring. Lower interest rates, lower payment, etc. However that also is dependant on if I am to get a job sooner rather than later because it would help our cause if I were getting a paycheck. Thanks for the good wishes by the way.
What the news isn’t stating is that the homes that are being sold are being sold at auction for the most part. People have either had the homes foreclosed or they’ve walked away and the banks are trying to sell them off.
That’s the thing, we’ve been talking with our bank (Wells fargo) and they keep saying the same thing – “we don’t want the house, what are we going to do with it. It’s not like we’re going to be able to move it or anything.” And up here in Idaho that is a problem because the recession has hit us hard up here. No one is buying homes right now, and construction on new homes has been shut down for months.
Wifey and I were driving home from the food bank today and we saw a construction site down the street from our house. The site is a subdivision that is supposed to consist of “Retirement Condominiums”. Well we couldn’t see the condos from the street because the weeds had grown so high!!! No one has worked on that property in months!!! Sure they’re working on the new retail pad just down the street but the condos? Phfhth!
It is sad. Well, I just hope that direct TV calls you real soon. I wouldn’t want anyone to lose their home. My husband and I will be living in an Rv for awhile but that is ok. The cats probably won’t like it since they are use to running the house here (2600 sq.ft,) but we like cozy. Besides, it beats paying rent $550- a month and utilities. We are renting the RV for $125- a month and not having to pay utilities. It is owned by my husband’s cousin and on church property, which we will be kind of the ground’s keeper but it works for us. I am a firm believer in being careful what you wish for…I wanted to downsize but not sure this much. Ha. Ha. But at least it will be home for us for awhile until we can get caught up on the bills and I am sure some good cleaning, fresh paint and a few things to spruce it up, it won’t be so bad.
Not sure I would want to trust a bank that made that statement to me. I know banks that say stuff like that can sell your home and they won’t care much when you are left stranded at the doorstep. I watch alot of Cnn and some of the horror stories last week were enough for me. people may not be buying for lack of work but investors do and then that story where banks were tearing down newly unfinished homes just blew this woman’s mind! All those materials and labor down the drain because they were not selling fast enough or at all for the banks satisfaction. What a waste! People will be homeless and then where are they to live. There was one story not so long ago that said this one organization were putting people who have been foreclosed on back into their homes, and someone else’s house (also foreclosed on) and even though it was illegal, they were doing it anyway because the people had no where else to go. How sad that society has come to this sort of tactic but what can one do? Foreclosures are everywhere and more following. Without the job market opening up, in every field, many more will be forced into the same situation. I can understand high risk but people need shelter, and most are happening to good, hard working people. Sometimes I think banks have no heart.
Condos in your area? Well, I am glad that someone can afford to build. Unfortunately, they won’t make much in times like these… unless they cater to the rich and famous or plan to rob the elderly of their retirement funds…
Not too long ago I heard about how some people who had been foreclosed on were now squatting at other foreclosed homes that were now empty.
I’m thinking that DirecTV will call soon. I sent them the app through their website so I think it might take a little while to get from the central hub to the call center here in Boise. Wifey’s got a good feeling about it and the more I think about the possibility of working there…so do it.