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Tag Archives: Housing Finance Agency

Florida Housing Launches Hardest-Hit Fund Program Statewide

Unemployed or underemployed homeowners in Florida having difficulty paying their mortgages can apply for financial assistance from the Florida Hardest-Hit Fund beginning April 18. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation has been conducting a pilot of its Hardest-Hit foreclosure prevention program since October, and is now opening them up statewide. The agency has made several changes to the program, which is now expected to provide assistance to twice as many homeowners as previously estimated.

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California Expands Eligibility for $2 Billion Foreclosure Relief Programs

The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) expanded eligibility criteria for several of the Keep Your Home California programs to make them available to a larger number of families at risk of losing their homes, including those with home equity loans and recently originated mortgages. Keep Your Home California is a $2 billion federally funded initiative. Implemented statewide in early February, the programs are part of the U.S. Treasury Department's Hardest Hit Fund.

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HUD Deploys Nearly $200M in Emergency Funds for the Unemployed

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pull the plug on HUD's Emergency Homeowner Loan Program last month, but that hasn't stopped HUD from moving ahead to put the money into the hands of distressed homeowners. The fund was established to provide zero-interest bridge loans of up to $50,000 for unemployed homeowners to continue making their mortgage payments while they look for a new job. HUD just deployed nearly $200 million of the $1 billion allotted to state agencies.

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HomeFree-USA Alleviates Lost Mod Paperwork with HOPE LoanPort

HomeFree-USA recently revealed its success in assisting struggling homeowners by using HOPE LoanPort, a Web-based system to submit home retention applications to mortgage servicers. HomeFree-USA, which oversees a network of 65 housing counseling agencies, endorses the HOPE LoanPort system for eliminating lost paperwork and reducing decision times on loan modification applications.

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BofA Initiates Hardest Hit Fund Principal Reduction Offers in Arizona

Bank of America is the first major mortgage servicer to leverage the federal government's Hardest Hit Fund to begin pilot programs of principal reductions for Arizona customers who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth. Through the Arizona pilot, BofA customers experiencing financial hardship may be eligible to have the amount owed on their mortgages reduced through matching contributions from the state and participating mortgage investors.

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Ohio Agency to Turn Away Distressed Homeowners Due to Budget Cuts

According to Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People, a non-profit foreclosure prevention counseling agency, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency's failure to distribute funding - in addition to federal budget cuts - means turning away some homeowners. Starting Tuesday, the agency says it will be forced to stop taking in homeowners referred from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program.

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Alabama Announces Foreclosure Prevention Program for Unemployed

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley recently announced the creation of Hardest Hit Alabama (HHA), a new program that will provide $162 million for foreclosure prevention efforts in the state. The Alabama Housing Finance Authority will use the money, which was allocated by the U.S. Treasury, to provide temporary assistance to unemployed or underemployed homeowners in the state to help them stave off foreclosure while they search for work.

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S&P Study Finds HFA Delinquencies Exceed State Averages for First Time

Although the nation is in the midst of an economic recovery, unemployment levels remain extremely elevated, and that - along with lower housing prices and a large inventory of homes in foreclosure - is leading to an increase in defaults on housing finance agency (HFA) loans, according to the analysts at Standard & Poor's (S&P). A recent study by S&P has revealed that delinquent HFA loans have exceeded state averages for the first time since the agency began tracking loan performance in 2006.

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Fannie Mae OKs Foreclosure Delays for Hardest Hit Fund Assistance

Fannie Mae has issued a notice to its servicers, instructing them to postpone foreclosure proceedings for unemployed homeowners who are receiving help through Hardest-Hit Fund programs run by state housing finance agencies. According to the GSE's newly released directive, if a housing finance agency (HFA) notifies a servicer that a borrower has been approved for assistance, the servicer must not refer the mortgage loan to foreclosure or conduct a scheduled foreclosure sale for 45 days.

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Senator Calls on HUD to Release Foreclosure Funds for Unemployed

Sen. Bob Casey says money that has been earmarked to help homeowners who've lost their jobs stave off foreclosure is overdue in being distributed. Casey has sent a letter to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, urging him to release $1 billion in funds Congress authorized last year for HUD to implement the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program for the unemployed. Casey says the promised funds still have not reached those families who are struggling to make their mortgage payments.

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