The U.S. Department of Treasury announced on Friday that it would provide up to 2 billion dollars in additional Troubled Asset Relief Program funds for the Hardest Hit Fund program to put toward assisting struggling homeowners and stabilizing communities that were most affected by the foreclosure crisis. Using the latest round of funding, participating state Housing Finance Agencies will be able to provide assistance for the hardest hit communities.
This will be the fifth round of HHF funding. According to Treasury, the deadline for states receiving additional funding to utilize those funds is extended by three years; those states now have until December 31, 2020, to utilize the funds. The new funding will be allocated in two phases of 1 billion dollars each. The Hardest Hit Fund was created in 2010 to provide 7 point 6 billion dollars in targeted aid to 18 states and the District of Columbia which were deemed to have been hit hardest by the financial crisis.
Fannie Mae reported an annual net income of 11 billion dollars for 2015—a decline of 23 percent from the previous year’s net income of 14 point 2 billion dollars. The decline in year-over-year net income for Fannie Mae was primarily driven by a substantial decrease in the amount of income the GSEs received from settlements resolving lawsuits related to private-label mortgage-related securities sold to Fannie Mae, and increased expenses incurred due to single-family foreclosed properties on which the loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae.