FHA continues to offer great 1^st time homebuyer programs with new home financing requiring only 3.5% down. FHA mortgage brokers and lenders remain optimistic that Hope for Homeowners may help some of their borrowers prevent foreclosure. Home financing guru, Jason Cardiff said, whether it’s FHA or a loan modification, homeowners need to get up and do something to stop foreclosure.”  Cardiff continued, “Mortgage lenders continue to provide loan modifications like we’ve never seen before, so contact a lender to refinance or seek counsel from a law firm that has a good track record of mortgage loan modifications with your lending company.”  Read the original FHA loan article > FHA Mortgage Rates Creep Up to 5%

What is the hope for homeowner program? If you haven’t heard the details of this loan product, try and visit the FHA Home Loan Services site that explains the Hope for Homeowners program or the FHA issued Factsheet.   The H4H FHA loan program attempts to aid troubled homeowners by refinancing their current mortgages into cheaper FHA insured mortgages. One of the characteristics of these FHA loans would be that they can be no larger than 90 percent of the property’s new appraised value; this will help lower costs and help avoid the dreaded route of foreclosure.

Why is this so important? The program itself is quite helpful since it addresses the problems of our housing crisis by refinancing these troubled mortgages.  More importantly, FHA programs like these encourage individuals to simply take action. This could be as simple as calling your lending company or shopping with a few mortgage companies to get a variety of mortgage options.  This FHA loan program will help specific homeowners, as well as set a hopeful trend among homeowners and lenders alike.  With this recently updated list, we are beginning to to see more and more participation and response from FHA mortgage lenders that are making great strides to help homeowners. The FHA has since introduced numerous programs, but the Hope for Homeowners program stands out because it specifically details the discounting of mortgages to address the recent decline in home prices.

While the list has been updated on an excel spreadsheet, you can expect further updates as more lenders participate. To check for updates, remember to visit the FHA site here. If your mortgage lender is still not listed, remember to still call your lender either way. As mentioned, home loan lenders are responding more favorably to loan modifications and working out options with their borrowers due to the recent onslaught of foreclosures. At the moment, HUD expects this list to be updated on Fridays – so if your lender still hasn’t appeared, don’t worry as it may take awhile since the program was only initiated this month.  In addition, HUD advises you to contact the Housing Counseling Agency if you are having trouble communicating with your current lender and/or subordinate lien holders.