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Distressed homeowners in Delaware do not have to wait until the new housing law takes effect Wednesday, Oct. 1, to be eligible for mortgage relief. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal Housing Administration continues to provide troubled homeowners with access to safe, affordable mortgage products.
“HUD [Housing and Urban Development] understands that for many families, time is of the essence. These families should not wait to obtain help when it may already be available,” said HUD Secretary Steve Preston. “Delay could only result in the loss of their home. We have already helped hundreds of families nationwide, and we believe there are more Delaware families that can currently benefit from our refinancing product.”
Immediate assistance is available by calling 800-CALL-FHA or visiting HUD.gov. There are HUD-approved housing counselors standing by to help homeowners in nine locations around the state. In addition, homeowners may now call the HOPE Now Alliance at 888-HOPE-NOW.
In July, the Bush administration expanded its flagship mortgage insurance program to assist more homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their high-cost subprime adjustable mortgages. HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) expanded its FHASecure refinancing product to insure more mortgages for borrowers who were late on a few payments and/or received a voluntary mortgage principal write-down from their lender.
With this expansion, FHA has helped more than 320,000 families since September 2007 refinance into affordable mortgages and is on pace to help 500,000 American families by the end of this year.
In August 2007, FHA initially modified its refinancing program to help creditworthy homeowners who missed their mortgage payments as a result of the payment shock associated with interest rate resets. FHASecure has also expanded its eligibility criteria to help homeowners who have gone into default as a result of temporary economic setbacks.
FHA’s eligibility will now help borrowers who are delinquent on their adjustable rate mortgages but who were late on no more than two monthly mortgage payments over the previous 12 months. These homeowners are eligible for the standard 97 percent loan-to-value refinance loan.
It will also help borrowers delinquent on their adjustable rate mortgages who were late on three consecutive monthly mortgage payments or at three different times over the past 12 months. These borrowers are eligible for a 90 percent loan-to-value refinance loan.
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