FHA Mortgage Guide

HUD sent out 280,000 copies of the letter below “urging homeowners to consider safer, more affordable FHA-backed mortgages.”

Is this a good idea? Sure. You can pretty bet that a lot of toxic-mortgage borrowers received lousy advice from lenders and did not see the FHA program as a plausible choice or were steered to loans that produced higher commissions and fees.

But there are some problems: First, troubled borrowers may have insufficient equity to qualify for the FHA program. Second, borrowers with loopy loans may have missed other payments in order to meet rising mortgage costs, meaning that they now have bad credit in general.

Hopefully in the next round of letters HUD will be able to note that FHA loan limits have been increased so that the program will work for a larger pool of borrowers.

Dear Homeowner,

Do you need help with your mortgage?

Your area is experiencing a disturbing home foreclosure rate that has accelerated in recent months. News reports cite the damaging effects of “subprime loans” as a major factor in the unsettled market. By focusing on education and safe mortgage alternatives, though, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is working diligently to address this unacceptable foreclosure trend.

Over the past few months, FHA has worked with mortgage loan servicers to identify solutions for the crisis facing current homeowners. Your current mortgage does not have to be FHA insured for you to benefit from our help. If you are facing financial difficulties due to a recent or imminent mortgage reset, or other housing-related difficulty, I urge you to contact us at 1-800-CALL-FHA or to visit www.fha.gov. There you will have the opportunity to learn about foreclosure prevention, legal rights, and credit counseling, among other topics.

Many homeowners may also be able to take advantage of our recently announced FHASecure program. This new program allows eligible homeowners to refinance into a secure, fixed-rate FHA loan even if they are in default.

Additionally, a new partnership between mortgage companies and non-profit housing counselors called HOPE NOW is available to you. Their mission is simple: reach out to homeowners who may be having difficulty paying their mortgages. For more information or to see if your mortgage company is a member of this caring coalition please go to www.hopenow.com.

Again, please contact us at 1-800-CALL-FHA (800-225-5342) or go to www.fha.gov. As part of the federal government, the Federal Housing Administration wants to help you protect and preserve the American dream - your home.

Sincerely,

Brian Montgomery
Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner

Check out these FHA resources for more information

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under FHA, FHASecure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.