Look to our Short Sales Resource section for information concerning National, State and Local information on Government Assistance programs for Homeowners.
Santa Barbara Connection's Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource section is designed to help our site visitors acquire insight about the distressed real estate market in Santa Barbara and its surrounding areas and arm them with the most up-to-date information possible on assistance programs, market trends, statistics and more.
How to avoid scammers targeting people having trouble paying their mortgage. ftc.gov
The Obama Administration - Making Home Affordable Program
Many homeowners who are at risk of default or who have already defaulted on their mortgages believe that foreclosure is their only solution to mounting mortgage problems. The good news is that there are options to helping responsible homeowners avoid distressed circumstances or even avoid foreclosures.
The Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable Program” offers three new government-sponsored programs overseen by the U.S. Treasury Department. These housing relief programs are designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosures.
The programs:
HARP – Home Affordable Refinance Program HAMP – Home Affordable Modification Program HAFA – Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative
1. – HARP - Home Affordable Refinance Program
Homeowners who are current with their mortgage payments may be able to take advantage of today’s mortgage rates and keep their homes by refinancing to a 30- or 15-year fixed-rate loan via Home Affordable Refinance, a component of the Making Home Affordable initiative launched in early 2009.
The following list contains an overview of the HARP eligibility criteria:
- Home:
Must be owner-occupied
Must be a 1 to 4 unit property
- Existing Mortgage:
Owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
Loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is above 80% but not more than 125%
- Borrower:
Current on existing mortgage payments
Has enough income to support new mortgage payments
2. – HAMP - Home Affordable Modification Program
For those home owners struggling to stay current with mortgage payments that experience a change in income or other financial hardships may seek loan modification via HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program). HAMP is one part of the administration initiatives to promote housing and financial stability. For many lenders, loan modification is a suitable workout option since lender losses on foreclosures can run high.
The following outline contains an overview of the HAMP eligibility criteria:
July 1, 2010 Congress Extends Tax Credit Closing Deadline Until September 30, 2010
President Expected to Sign Measure into Law
Congress has passed a bill to give homebuyers another three months to close on their home loans and receive tax credits up to $8,000. The bill applies ONLY to homebuyers who met the April 30, 2010, deadline with a signed contract to purchase a new or existing primary residence. The bill would extend the deadline to September 30, 2010, for homebuyers to close on their real estate transaction. The previous deadline was June 30, 2010. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law.
The National Association of Realtors estimates that as many as 180,000 homebuyers who met the contract deadline of April 30, 2010, may be affected by the extension. They will now have additional time to close their transactions.
