Making Home Affordable Program: The President's plan created to help millions of homeowners refinance or modify their mortgages.

In my quest to find help for homeowners who were caught up in the mess of toxic high-interest adjustable rate mortgages, I found some information regarding a new federal program introduced by President Obama in his plan to help at-risk homeowners struggling to hang on to their homes.

While this program may not help every homeowner in trouble, I found basic information via the FinancialStability.gov website containing eligibility requirements for two options available under the new Making Home Affordable program. On this web site, there is a mini quiz comprised of a few "yes" or "no" answers to determine whether or not a homeowner meets the eligibility requirements under the program. The program has two options available, refinancing or loan modification. From what I have read, to qualify for a refinance under this program, a homeowners' mortgage must currently be a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan. Otherwise, a homeowner may qualify under the programs' loan modification option depending on whether they answer "yes" to all of the following questions:

1. Is your home your primary residence?

2. Is the amount you owe on your first mortgage equal to or less than $729,750?

3. Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? For example, have you had a significant increase in your mortgage payment OR reduction in your income since you got your current loan OR have you suffered a hardship that has increased your expenses (like medical bills)?

4. Did you get your current mortgage before January 1, 2009?

According to information I found on the FinancialStability.gov website, "Servicers received the detailed program requirements on March 4, 2009 and it may take some time before they are fully operational. However, Treasury has encouraged servicers to immediately assist delinquent borrowers at the greatest risk of foreclosure."

Source Link: http://www.financialstability.gov/makinghomeaffordable/modification_yes.html

To find out whether a homeowner can qualify to participate in either of these programs, the following link will take you to the self-assessment tool to find out:

http://www.financialstability.gov/makinghomeaffordable/refinance_eligibility.html

If you are a homeowner in trouble, I encourage you to try the self-assessment tool to see if you are eligible to participate in this program. If you know of a homeowner who would find this information helpful, I encourage you to pass this along.