The housing bubble starting late in this century's first decade will be a time remembered as an economic depression caused by American greed and the absurd steps we were willing to take to obtain the American Dream


Though there has been a strong effort by the federal Government and the mortgage lenders themselves to provide outlets and opportunity for homeowners who need mortgage help and foreclosure assistance, most homeowners probably feel that these efforts are to little to late.

There was a lag (at best) in available help for homeowners in or near foreclosure.

The current unfolding story of America's struggle to find debt help is one worth knowing. We have done our best to do so ourselves.

Hopeless Hope - The Untold Story

The first attempt at establishing some sort of organized program that could help homeowners only proved hopeless right from the get go.

The Hope For Homeowners Program was a FHA insured refinance program that was created as an effort to help homeowners avoid or stop foreclosure by refinancing out of high interest loans and underwater mortgages.

Hope For Homeowners was designed to help those homeowners who were responsible borrowers but trapped in a mortgage that simply was to expensive. The program was established by President Bush.
It simply did not work.

Houston we Have a Problem - Year End 2008 - First Quarter of 2009

After the utter failure of the first attempt to provide some sort of mortgage help for homeowners who were suffering through a financial hardship, the folks in Washington started to really take notice at the seriousness and severity of the housing crisis. Perhaps for the first time there was a sense of unity in agreement with the notion that something had to be done and something had to be done soon for the American Homeowner.

The first move actually came from the lenders in the form of a foreclosure freeze which was announced before the start of 2009.

The foreclosure freeze was a massive freeze of the majority of foreclosure sales that would have normally taken place between late November through early to mid January of 2009.

The biggest organization that took part in this activity was Fannie and Freddie, whom are government sponsored organizations that buy mortgage investments and securities.

Other large institutions participated such as Bank of America, Citi Mortgage, and other large lending mortgage servicing institutions.

What was the Purpose and Importance of the Foreclosure Freeze?

There were many benefits that derived from the foreclosure freeze. For instance many homeowners were able to obtain some extra time to come up with a game plan to avoid foreclosure or perhaps to save money for what was an inevitable move.

President Obama and Making It Work

During this same time frame president Obama was inaugurated as the President of the United States. Homeowners and the rest of America had what felt like their last hope of any type of mortgage and housing solution.

President Obama and his administration made big commitments to the problem and went work in a big way right from the get go.

In February of 2009 the Obama Administration announced there upcoming plan they named the Making Home Affordable Plan.

Making Assistance Programs Feasible and Home Affordable

The Making Home Affordable Plan was a program created to allow homeowners who were at risk of foreclosure and or mortgage default find mortgage payment relief through one of two innovative assistance programs.

There are many aspects of the Making Home Affordable Plan. However two programs stand out above all others.

The Making Home Affordable Mortgage Modification Program

The Obama Loan Modification program is now known as HAMP or Home Affordable Modification Program. This program has streamlined the loan modification process.

The Make Home Affordable Mortgage Refinance Program

The other major program established by the Making Home Affordable Plan is a Mortgage Refinance Program that Allows Homeowners to refinance there mortgage in to a lower cost option which will help the homeowner make the mortgage payments affordable. This refinance assistance program is known as HARP or the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

More on Obama Assistance Programs

The Obama modification and refinance programs were criticized for having a slow start. However the programs were nimble and modified more then once with in the first several months. They soon started to pick up speed and did so rather quickly.

Success of the Obama Mortgage Assistance Programs and Strategy

The programs now are in full swing and are utilizing a streamlined make sense approach to lowering monthly mortgage payments and allowing homeowners to make home affordable.

Building Blocks of Mortgage Assistance

The efforts and results of mortgage assistance are sought through many options. The list below highlights some of the more popular and successful ones.

Loan Modification has become increasingly popular.

Mortgage Refinance has become increasingly difficult but if a mortgage refinance is obtainable it is one of the more favorable mortgage solutions available to Homeowners.

Short Sale is quite common in the world of foreclosure but the Homeowner will almost always lose their home in this situation.

Hard Money Loans are very lucrative for investors if equity has accumulated in the property.
Loan Audits performed by lawyers in effort to find grounds to legally challenge the lender is a new trend. Many have found success, as the lender will often opt for loan modification at the threat of a lawsuit.

Bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure proceedings but generally the Homeowner will eventually loose the Home down the road.

Forbearance The lender often grants a forbearance agreement or a repayment plan to the Homeowner in efforts to retain home ownership.

Selling the home on the open market is a way to stop foreclosure but it is generally a better idea to postpone the sale to relieve the discounting pressure on the sales price of a home when in foreclosure.

Cash for Keys Programs have been established by many different lenders and government agencies for both homeowners and renters who have lost their home due to a foreclosure. These programs provide financial assistance for the moving expenses these families have incurred.

Trouble Brews In Mortgage Assistance Industry

As the rise of the housing and mortgage crisis came to be, so to followed a new industry that launched with a boom. This industry was primarily composed of loan modification service firms. The basic idea of a loan modification firm was pretty simple and straight forward. They offered an opportunity for a homeowner to obtain the help of professional assistance to aid in their efforts of negotiating a restructured mortgage agreement, in return the homeowner would pay a fee for the service.

The idea and concept of hiring a loan modification firm makes a lot of sense. Theoretically the homeowner is able to obtain qualified help that has their interests in mind. Unlike a representative of the lender, or even a nonprofit housing counselor the loan modification firm is paid by the homeowner. Though the loan modification services offered by the free market seem to make a lot of sense at first glance the practical application of the services and the performance of the loan modification firms did not live up to such expectations. To put it bluntly the loan modification service industry quickly earned a criminal orientated reputation.

Though there is much more to the story then bad intentioned entrepreneurs, in fact we believe the truth of the matter would and perhaps will make one of the most disturbing stories ever told.