HUD announces disaster assistance in the wake of Hurricane Ike

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to dozens of counties and parishes in Texas and Louisiana following Hurricane Ike. This assistance will support homeowners and low-income renters and includes foreclosure relief for families whose homes are insured through HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

To read the entire story, please visit: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr08-138.cfm

Questions Surround FHA’s Push into Troubled Mortgages

Key executives from some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing shops gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday, testifying before the House Financial Services Committee over the recently-passed and soon-to-be-implemented Hope for Homeowners program that will see the Federal Housing Administration’s authority to underwrite refinanced mortgages for troubled borrowers expanded by a whopping $300 billion. The new program is expected to become effective on Oct. 1.

To read the entire article, please visit: http://www.housingwire.com/2008/09/17/second-liens-higher-rates-may-confound-fhas-push-into-troubled-mortgages/

Lenders to FHA: Thanks but no thanks for your help

As part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, troubled borrowers will be able to refinance their home loans with the backing of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) starting on October 1. But at a congressional hearing today in Washington, lenders didn't seem terribly enthusiastic about the program, dubbed Hope for Homeowners. The program calls for lenders to voluntarily refinance delinquent mortgages by reducing loan balances to 90% of a home's current market value. The new loans will be backed by the FHA, which will be receive 5% of the new loan balance as a payment from the lender.

To read the entire article, please visit: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/17/real_estate/Hope_for_homeowners_hearing/index.htm