Is FHA Refinancing Doing All it Can to Stop Foreclosures?
HUD released new statistics elaporating on the 400,000 homeowners that refinanced with FHA mortgage loans during the past year. Let’s all congratulate HUD for getting as many people as possible into FHA home loans. The only problem is that such numbers do not exist in a vacuum. The core reason for more FHA financing is very simple: Private-money mortgages have disappeared. But the Housing of Urban Development is not telling the whole story when it says that in July of this year that “HUD expanded the FHASecure loans to help homeowners with adjustable rate subprime mortgages who can no longer afford their mortgage loans and missed up to three monthly mortgage payments over the past 12 months.
Rather than go into foreclosure, eligible borrowers can refinance with FHA and lenders can voluntarily write down the outstanding subprime mortgage principal balances.” The catch, of course, is that “eligible borrowers” have been rare. Figures from HUD show that 455,803 borrowers refinanced with FHA mortgages during fiscal 2008 — the period ending September 30th. During the same period only 3,794 delinquent conventional borrowers were able to refinance with FHA home mortgages.
Less than 1 percent of all FHA mortgage refinance loans bailed out failing borrowers. Does anyone believe that more distressed homeowners could have been helped had HUD relaxed eligibility requirements? Does anyone doubt there the need is there? Loan modifications soared in 2008 and most industry insiders believe that 2009 and 210 will be more of the same.
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