It’s all over the news, “Subprime borrowers face losing their homes.” Fingerpointing started to arise as some people are saying that the lenders have taken advantage of the innocent consumers into signing bad loans. However, the lending industry is countering that the consumers should have known how much they can afford. The industry argued that that they did not force these consumers into signing these loans. Regardless of whose fault was it, we are in a situation wherein troubled homeowners will start facing foreclosures. If you or you know of someone who may be struggling to make payments on this mortgage, you will find the following information helpful:

“Bail-Out” Loans:
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) is a community advocacy and homeownership not-for-profit organization. NACA has made the dream of homeownership possible for a lot of families by providing counseling and assisting even those with poor credit to purchase a home or refinance a predatory loan with far better terms than those provided even in the prime market. NACA founded the Home Save Program to grant homeowners with unaffordable loans and who are at risk of losing their homes. NACA has access to billions of dollars of mortgage funds for primarily low- and moderate-income people and people purchasing in low- moderate-income communities. However, please note that this program is not available to investors or people not occupying their home. This is the most significant assistance committed by anyone to homeowners suffering from the subprime lending crash.

The incredible NACA mortgage allows NACA Members to purchase or refinance homes with:

  • no down payment,
  • no closing costs,
  • no fees,
  • no requirement for perfect credit,
  • and at a below-market interest rate.

Freddie  Mac and Fannie Mae are two of the government-sponsored mortgage investors who have announced of their plans to purchase these subprime mortgages so that troubled homeowners can refinance their loans with better terms. Officials of one of these companies stated that these subprime loans will be converted into traditional loans with terms of 40 or 50 year interest only loans.

Homeowners Counseling:
The Homeownership Preservation Foundation is a non-profit organization that has formed partnerships with local governments, other non-profit organizations, borrowers and lenders to help families overcome hardships that could result in a home loss. The foundation operates a 24-hour hot line (888-995-HOPE) that counsels homeowners for free.

Home Loan Learning Center is administered by The Mortgage Bankers Association, which has enhanced its site to include contact numbers for nearly five dozen lenders. Look for the contacts box at the lower right-hand side of the page.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development  websites provides tips on how to avoid foreclosures and discusses some of the alternatives that homeowners can avail. Among them are:

  • Special forebearance
  • Mortgage modification
  • Partial Sale
  • Pre-foreclosure sale
  • Deed in lieu of foreclosure

HUD sponsors certain housing counseling agencies throughout the country. To find one near you, go to the Counseling Agency Search or call (800) 569-4287.

Freddie Mac has enhanced its CreditSmart financial literacy curriculum to include a section on preserving homeownership. The multilingual curriculum, developed to help consumers build good credit, can be found at FreddieMac Creditsmart

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TAGS: Having mortgage trouble what to do, having mortgage trouble what to do.

Source: DailyBulletin.com, Statesman.com