Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program - Source: http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/hafa.html
Many homeowners may feel that they can no longer afford their home, but want to avoid the negative effects of foreclosure. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program offers homeowners, their mortgage servicers, and investors an incentive for completing a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. With these options, under HAFA, a homeowner leaves their home to transition to more affordable housing and alleviate the mortgage debt they owe.
These options are available for homeowners who: 1. do not qualify for a trial mortgage modification under the Making Home Affordable Program; 2. do not successfully complete the trial period for their modification; 3. miss at least two consecutive payments during their modification period; or 4. request a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
Short Sale
In a short sale, the servicer allows the homeowner to list and sell the mortgaged property with the understanding that the net proceeds from the sale may be less than the total amount due on the first mortgage.
Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
Generally, if the borrower makes a good faith effort to sell the property but is not successful, a servicer may consider a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. With a deed-in-lieu, the borrower voluntarily transfers ownership of the property to the servicer— provided the title is free and clear of mortgages, liens, and encumbrances.
The HAFA Program streamlines both of these options to make them easier for a homeowner to work with their servicer. Under the program, a homeowner can receive $3,000 to help with relocation costs.
From the National Association of Realtors Short Sale Issues Working Group - The Short Sale Workflow (click to download full Word Document) Sellers should be cautioned that when selecting a credit counselor to carefully check the credentials of the agency as not every credit counselor or foreclosure rescue specialist is going to be HUD-approved. What are the options available to the seller?Bank of America loses $2.24B as loan losses rise | AP 10.16.09
"Bank of America Corp. said Friday it lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills."
Foreclosures rise 5 percent from summer to fall | AP 10.15.09
"The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July-September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior three months, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc. That puts foreclosure-related filings on a pace to hit about 3.5 million this year, up from more than 2.3 million last year."
Bad News on Jobs: More Pain in Housing | WSJ 10.02.09
"Low interest rates, loose lending and speculative fever allowed housing demand to race ahead of such fundamentals as jobs and incomes during the housing boom, but economic reality has been back in charge in the past few years, and seems likely to remain there for a long time."
Banks Bite Bullet on Loans | WSJ 10.01.09
"Banks and loan investors are starting to bite the bullet and lower the principal due on home mortgages for some struggling borrowers, a new report from bank regulators shows."
Are Distressed Homes Worth It? | WSJ 10.01.09
"In August, nearly a third of overall housing sales were distress sales, according to the National Association of Realtors, up from 18% in March 2008, when it began tracking such sales."
Interactive Home Prices Map | WSJ 09.30.09
U.S. Q2 home foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies up | Reuters 09.30.09
"Foreclosures jumped 16 percent to 2.9 percent of serviced mortgages, while home retention actions such as loan modifications rose 21.7 percent, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a report."
Mortgage demand falls despite lower rates | Reuters 09.30.09
"U.S. mortgage applications fell last week despite the lowest loan rates in four months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, in another sign that housing will likely recover slowly from its three-year plunge."
Looking for Home Price Bottom in the Rear View Mirror | WSJ 09.29.09
"Many housing pundits predict that home prices will fall steeply again once new waves of (currently pent-up) foreclosures finally wash through the market."
Fannie Mae delinquencies jump, Aug portfolio flat | Reuters 09.29.09
"Delinquency on loans in its single-family guarantee business jumped by 0.23 percentage point to 4.17 percent in July, the most recent data available. A year earlier it was 1.45 percent."
M&I extends foreclosure moratorium to end of 2009 | Reuters 09.28.09
"Marshall & Ilsley Corp (MI.N), Wisconsin's largest bank, on Monday extended a foreclosure moratorium for the third time, until the end of 2009, as distressed homeowners struggle to pay their debts."
Expectations low for new loan-help program | AP 09.26.09
"Last month, the Obama administration launched a program to help homeowners with loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. About 850,000 FHA borrowers are behind on their payments or in foreclosure, yet the program will assist just 45,000."
Shadow Market Part II: Banks Avoid Acquiring Foreclosed Homes | WSJ 09.25.09
"...banks have become less eager to acquire homes partly because of new legal restrictions on evictions of owners or tenants."
‘The Forecast Calls for Pain’: Despite Hopes, Anxiety Bedevils Housing |WSJ 09.25.09
"...the government-backed mortgage investor Freddie Mac disclosed that 3.13% of the single-family loans it owns or guarantees were 90 days or more overdue in August, up from 2.95% in July."
U.S. home sales, jobless claims drop unexpectedly | Reuters 09.24.09
"Sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly fell for the first time in four months in August, indicating a less vigorous pace of economic recovery from a deep recession."
Democrats on path to repeat housing disaster |Washington Examiner 09.22.09
"At issue last week was H.R. 1479, the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. It would expand and strengthen the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, which required banks to make loans in low-income areas that many lenders had traditionally shunned."
"Option" mortgages to explode, officials warn | Reuters 09.17.09
"The federal government and states are girding themselves for the next foreclosure crisis in the country's housing downturn: payment option adjustable rate mortgages that are beginning to reset."
U.S. foreclosures near record, peak in late '10: report | Reuters 09.10.09
"U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings in August hovered near July's record high despite broad efforts to keep borrowers in their homes and will probably rise for another year, according to a report released on Thursday."
Twelve percent of troubled homeowners getting aid | Reuters 09.09.09
"Only 12 percent of the troubled U.S. homeowners believed to be eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration's housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, a U.S. Treasury Department report showed on Wednesday."
Treasury sees millions more foreclosures | Reuters 09.09.09
"A Treasury report showed 360,165 people had their monthly payments reduced through August, up from 235,247 through July, but a senior Treasury official conceded much more must be done to soften the impact of a severe and prolonged housing crisis."
Mortgage Defaults Bring New Trouble | Reuters 09.04.09
"There's big trouble at the Federal Housing Administration, which, hit by huge mortgage defaults, 'is in danger of seeing its reserves fall below the level demanded by Congress,' writes the WSJ."
U.S. mortgage late payments hit record high in Q2 | Reuters 08.20.09
"Late payments on U.S. mortgages increased to a record high in the second quarter, with almost one in eight homeowners delinquent or in the process of foreclosure."
Home foreclosures set another record in July | Reuters 08.13.09
"Foreclosure activity jumped 7 percent in July from June and 32 percent from a year earlier as one in every 355 households with a loan got a foreclosure filing, RealtyTrac said on Thursday."
U.S. insured mortgage defaults rise in June | Reuters 07.31.09
"Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages increased and the number brought up to date fell in June for a second straight month, reflecting further pressure in the nation's housing market, though the pace of deterioration slowed."
Unemployment spreads distress in U.S. home loans | Reuters 07.30.09
"Cities in the U.S. Sun Belt states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona dominated the record foreclosure spree in the first half of the year, but distress in other regions emerged as joblessness spread, RealtyTrac said on Thursday."
Mortgage Workouts, Now Tax-Free for Many Homeowners; Claim Relief on Newly-Revised IRS Form | IRS.gov 02.28.08
"Homeowners whose mortgage debt was partly or entirely forgiven during 2007 may be able to claim special tax relief by filling out newly-revised Form 982 and attaching it to their 2007 federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service."
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