Government

No Job? Obama Now Says You May Not Have to Pay Your Mortgage for a Full Year

No Job? Obama Now Says You May Not Have to Pay Your Mortgage for a Full YearWASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is making it easier for out-of-work homeowners to stay in their homes, as it tries to revamp its troubled foreclosure-prevention program.

Starting Aug. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will extend the period for unemployed homeowners to miss mortgage payments to a full year from three or four months. That will allow qualified homeowners to go without making a monthly payment for 12 months before the foreclosure process begins.

The extended grace period only applies to FHA-backed loans, which are usually given to low- and middle-income borrowers and represent about 14 percent of all active mortgages and roughly 25 percent of new mortgages, and homeowners in the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

But the change will likely only help “tens of thousands” of homeowners, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday.

Last year, roughly 17,000 homeowners received a government-supported delay on their mortgage payments. About 3,500 borrowers with FHA-insured loans fall behind on their mortgages each month due to unemployment, officials said, and another 10,000 unemployed homeowners have taken advantage of a three-month delay in mortgage payments in the past year.

Donovan said administration officials hope private lenders and government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which back 90 percent of all new mortgages, will adopt a similar policy.

“Our hope is that this will have broader effects,” Donovan said during a conference call.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had no initial comment on Donovan’s push for a broader, industry-wide grace period for the unemployed.

But new rules going into effect Oct. 1 for the mortgage giants to allow for long-term forbearance when a home or a place of unemployment has been destroyed; if the homeowner or a dependent has a long-term disability or illness; or if the borrower has died and the property is in probate. Mortgage payments can be put off for up to a year in those cases.

“It can be extended and has been extended for people for a variety of reasons,” said Brad German, a Freddie spokesman.

The government launched its chief foreclosure program in 2009 to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly payments. Borrowers start with lower payments on a trial basis. But the program has struggled to convert them into permanent loan modifications.

More than 1.6 million troubled homeowners received trial modifications over the past two years. But a majority of the applicants, about 854,000 homeowners, have dropped out of the program entirely.

In recent weeks, administration officials have acknowledged that housing has become a significant drag on the economy. President Barack Obama said the housing market has “been most stubborn to us trying to solve the problem,” during a town-hall-style meeting Wednesday on Twitter.

He admitted that the government’s programs to help homeowners were “not enough” and said the administration was “going back to the drawing board.”

Homeowners accepted into the foreclosure assistance program receive interest rates as low as 2 percent for five years. They can repay their loans over a longer period. The median savings for those who remain in the program is about $526 per month.

Those who have their payments delayed must repay them, with interest.

But many homeowners have complained that the program has been a bureaucratic mess. Some have said they were disqualified after banks lost their documents and failed to return their phone calls. Banks have blamed homeowners for failing to submit needed paperwork.

Last month, the Obama administration blamed the three largest U.S. mortgage lenders for the failures of the foreclosure program, saying they hadn’t done enough to help people at risk of losing their homes. The Treasury Department said it was withholding financial incentives that amounted to up to $1,000 per permanent loan modification, arguing the three lenders had incorrectly determined that many people were ineligible for assistance.

The lenders, Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., disputed the data, saying they were based on old reports, not audits from the first quarter of the year as the government claimed.

Comments (306)

1 2 3 ... 9
  • cobra two
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:09pm

    Wake up people! next thing you know the Govt will own your house. Anything to get re elected!
    Jackass!
    NObama2012
    Stop the experiment.

    Report Post »  
  • quicker
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:08pm

    What the hell you still don`t have the reply fixed this is bullshat.people let us hit glen`s website untill they fix this crap.

    Report Post » quicker  
  • abugbabe
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:08pm

    Dang! When it got hard to pay my mortgage, I stopped being self-employed and got a steady paycheck. Stupid, stupid stupid!
    I have a friend who was in her house for 10 months after she stopped paying the mortgage. Do some people really get foreclosed on in 3-4 months? Maybe it takes longer here due to volume.

    Report Post »  
  • jb.kibs
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:07pm

    Too they people don’t read this site… or care what anyone has to say…

    Report Post »  
  • Donna
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:06pm

    Besides doing the work Lerner proposed (voluntarily suspending mortgage payments), this may be a clue for us: does Pres O’s admin foresee even MORE unemployed? They are at least admitting that currently unemployed shouldn’t expect much for approximately twelve months after losing their jobs….

    This is going to be a summer from hell, people – it’s just starting – buckle up.

    Blessings!

    Report Post » Donna  
  • sooner12
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:05pm

    Buying more votes……hmmmmm?

    Report Post »  
  • cheezwhiz
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:04pm

    So first the marxists had everyone given a loan , using basically taxpayer money ( in some form or the other ) to buy a house, under absurd terms .
    Then the marxist ruined the economy so that people start losing their jobs.
    Then the marxists gave more money to banks .
    Then the marxists made banks modify the loans and delay foreclosure.
    Now the marxists want these people to keep staying in their houses WITHOUT PAYING ( they say its for just 1 yr but there is no way it won’t be extended for ever).
    In other news, marxists/anarchists are breaking into vacant/foreclosed properties and sqatting there , with banners and filth.
    A few months ago, marxists declared war on those banks which absorbed the home-loan entities
    ( BofA+ Countrywide, JPMorgan+ Chase, Wachovia , WaMu+WellsFargo etc) , an act which was forced by Bernanke .
    There must be a common link and some motive to all this, hmmmmmm….

    Report Post » cheezwhiz  
  • Robert-CA
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:04pm

    What about rent ?
    & what’s next ? keep your apt – car – credit cards – furniture etc …

    Report Post » Robert-CA  
  • Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:03pm

    I suppose why do the right thing by letting the bank foreclose on a home you were never responsible enough to own or will not be able to afford for some foreseeable time. Why be forced to move out and have to rent when you can live free here.

    Report Post »  
  • retrolady
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:02pm

    Pretty soon this administration will run out of others to blame for it’s lame-brained ideas……WAITING!!!

    Report Post »  
  • Sy Kosys
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:00pm

    Jeesus Cryst these twits don’t have a farkin clue….

    Report Post » Sy Kosys  
  • TRONINTHEMORNING
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:58pm

    Another way for OBAMA DRONES to be recruited. Great point, TED…I’d like a pass on my property taxes too. Doesn’t everyone get a trophy in OBAMAVILLE?

    What an evil lot of people running this country. It must change.

    Report Post »  
  • Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:58pm

    Does interest and/or penalties accure?

    Report Post »  
  • retrolady
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:57pm

    Pretty soon the administration is going to run out of others to blame for it’s lame-brain ideas!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • 1bambam
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:57pm

    I’m going out of my mind …how is this crap aloud to happen …it’s just prolonging the inevitable…can we let the housing market bottom out already this is BS

    Report Post » 1bambam  
  • stereojoe
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:57pm

    Not pay your mortgage for a full year? That’s not funny at all. I wish someone had spoken of this before my father had gone into a depression about not being able to pay his bills and support mom. He went out and got two part-time jobs to pay the bills. He is working his butt off to support the woman he loves and the pride he must keep.

    Damn Obama for making a joke out of my Dad’s efforts. Damn him and his socialist policies. I have watching my Dad work too damn hard to just be ignored by Obama’s worthless policies.

    F U Mr. Obama. I will never forgive you for taunting my old man. Never.

    Report Post » stereojoe  
    • stereojoe
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:00pm

      Mr. Obama, you will not make a mockery out of my Dad’s sacrifice and hard work. I have watch too many wrinkles appear on his brow from the stress and the late nights.

      Who are you to give a hand out now??? Where was it before??? We independent people who will never take a handout so long as the alternative is still there.

      Mr. Obama, you have embarrassed my father, I hate you.

      Report Post » stereojoe  
    • Ronda
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:18am

      I am quite sure your Dad wouldn’t take the handout. If he was that person, he wouldn’t be working his butt off at two of whatever job he could get. You and your Mom are blessed to have him. Don’t be too angry about this. In a year your Dad will still have his pride and dignity intact. I don’t know if we can say the same for the people who are getting the handout.

      Report Post » Ronda  
    • bringbackSAC
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:55am

      Brobama has imbarrassed us ll not just your father.

      Report Post » bringbackSAC  
    • Vanguard
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 12:10am

      Don’t give into this laughable economic attempt to not say the US is in a DEPRESSION. Obama Economics is spend, then bandaid, spend more tax dollars thn bandaid… we all get it.

      What economist is that?

      I would look at and study Friedman, Hayek and Sowell as we must teach our kids basic econ. Simple. This is a new war that we, as Americans, need to make sure our kids understand because it is too late for our generation but not the next.

      Why do I not get a dividend for paying my mortgage on time while those that rode the variable interest rate get 1 MORE SHOT AT REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH?

      This is the new future and Barney is waiting in the wings.

      Report Post » Vanguard  
    • Goldlady
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 12:23am

      Obama can NEVER make a joke of your dad’s efforts. Your dad is doing the right thing, a man of integrity, American grit and principle. He will be rewarded for his hard work and honor. That is something Barry can’t even conceive of.

      Report Post »  
    • BooButtBrown
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 1:04am

      Your Dad is an impressive man! More people should learn from people like your parents…too many losers in our country walk around with their hands out!!

      Report Post »  
    • JQCitizen
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 1:22am

      You said it, Joe! This presidency has been a thumb in the eye to decent people all through this country; – just hang in there; – keep up the fighting spirit. In 2012 WE POKE BACK!!!

      Report Post »  
    • packrbackr
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 6:06am

      Barrack doesn’t care about your father since he is self reliant and proud, he wants more dependant and lazy people to keep voting for him .Bless your Dad and all who are in his position.

      Report Post »  
  • last frontier
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:56pm

    Did you ever see the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim carry plays God and every action has a not so pleasing reaction.

    Report Post » last frontier  
    • tasmanianwabbit
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 1:05am

      The difference being, at least the Jim Carry charactor had (mostly) good intentions.

      Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:55pm

    .
    I want to say if I offenedany of you morons out there, I’m sorry.

    Not really but sry anyway………

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • Rickfromillinois
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 8:58am

      That’s alright, neither of you posts make any sense. Perhaps you should read what you have typed before you submit them.

      Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
  • sportlock
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:55pm

    So I’m assuming 12 months from now is when the shovel ready jobs will be available?

    Report Post »  
    • Jackson
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:56am

      No, 12 months from now is after the election.
      Let‘s make sure that 12 months it won’t be Obummers problem any more.

      Report Post » Jackson  
  • azsun
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:54pm

    Another drop in the bucket which has a hole in it as big as your fist. Why waste the time

    Report Post » azsun  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:54pm

    .
    Shame all the folks this would help. Already lost their FREAKING HOUSES, you moron…….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • douglassoileau
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 5:13am

      This only applies to those, “Who”, couldn’t afford a house in the first place………If you can’t pay for something, don’t expect me to be your bank…….my heart bleeds for these union and Don’t Know Responsibility People……………………

      Report Post »  
    • jpclarksville
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:35am

      Then I guess they shouldn‘t have bought a house they couldn’t afford. I don’t care WHAT people say about the lenders, these people KNEW they couldn’t afford it (they just needed someone to tell them that they could so they would have someone to blame) or they got greedy during the housing bubble and got left holding the bag…OR they did even dumber crap like using their home equity as a personal piggy bank to buy toys and vacations…things that have zero real value.

      Report Post »  
  • ofallon
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:53pm

    The Obama Administration is doing exactly what Stephen Lerner suggested to collapse the system. Don’t make your mortgage payments.

    Report Post »  
  • likwidlizard
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:53pm

    Really???Bet the banks are doing backflips and shooting off fireworks over this.

    Report Post » likwidlizard  
    • turkey13
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:36am

      Hey, sounds like a super deal – let’s add car payments to this neat program also.

      Report Post »  
  • TelepromoterNChief
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:51pm

    LoL. . .okaaaay. . .
    I will play dumb Obama lover, what’s the catch?

    Report Post »  
    • quicker
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:00pm

      Are you the right type just being pc if you get my drift

      Report Post » quicker  
    • tasmanianwabbit
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 1:03am

      I imagine thay will tax ya later!

      Report Post »  
    • semihardrock
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 2:34am

      the “catch is” the United States of America is DEAD and the free market is over when government takes control of the banks and tells them what to do with their money!

      If they can control the banks money….how easily they can control yours!

      Report Post » semihardrock  
    • slvrserfr
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 5:24am

      The deception of an improving economy until the elections in 2012, if no mortgage payments are needed to be made for a year, the anticipation would be that they would spend, save or invest more money in other things, which in turn would help to boost GDP. You’ve gotta think like a desperate politician that knows the odds are against him in a re-election and will stoop to any new low in order to gain a glimmer of popularity in any of their policies.

      Report Post »  
    • The Patriot
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 6:45am

      this is a derversion it is now taking 2 to 3 years for the banks to forclose on a house now. My sister has been wating 3 years

      Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:02am

      The catch is that the few remaining actual taxpaying workers will be forced to pick up yet another tab.

      Altruism in government is a terrible, terrible thing.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • mikem1969
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 8:05am

      More freaking government handouts and control of businesses. I truly feel for all those that have lost their jobs and are unable to make their mortgage payments, but enough is enough.

      Report Post »  
    • old white guy
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 8:25am

      so ok. i loaned you the money and took back the mortgage. who the h-ll pays me?

      Report Post »  
    • righthanddrive
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:18am

      Ya gotta vote for BHO

      Report Post »  
    • capnjack
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:27am

      No catch, however you will be asked to sign a permanent Voter Registration and to save you from going to the voting booth to vote, they will automatically vote for the Democrat candidate. Thus saving millions of gallons of gas and saving or creating 2 million jobs.

      Report Post » capnjack  
  • teddrunk
    Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:48pm

    What if my house is paid off? Can I skip my property taxes for a year?

    Report Post »  
    • Marci
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:51pm

      So, it only affects those who benefited under the Community Reinvestment Act I presume….

      Report Post » Marci  
    • 937maggiemae
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 8:49am

      Thats probably just one of the orgs that it will affect. There are tons of em out there. Some pretty darn good!

      Report Post »  
    • Zer0
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:53pm

      @TedDrunk,

      Nope. The IRS will pay you a special visit at your home and repeatedly sodomize you for hours, by decree of The Annointed One himself!

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:00pm

      @TED …. I would like to do that also!

      Geez this isn’t going to “help” .. it only delays the inevitable and puts more ??? in the market. This “recession” would have been over long ago .. without the government “helping”. Government has turned it into a depression.

      TEA!

      Report Post »  
    • Ironmaan
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:01pm

      Take from the prudent and wise and give to the foolish and stupid. Poor judgement and wreckless behavior gets rewarded in this country over and over and people wonder why we are in decline. I am sorry if you loose your job, but you should have had an emergency cushion. If you don’t, oh well…its not my responsibility to bail you out, and the government shouldn’t be using my tax dollars to do it either. If you have to move to another state to get another job then thats what you should do. Keep your pathetic, weak, foolish, can’t do simple math, cry baby hands out of my pocket.
      http://guerillatics.com

      Report Post »  
    • Fantastic Four
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 12:40am

      Move to China, Venezuela or Cuba I hear that Socialism is the BEST form of Government. You can have all the Hope and Change till your hearts content since you know we are a down right mean country……bah ha ha ha bah ha ha….

      Report Post » Fantastic Four  
    • AmericanGeekGurl
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:22am

      @ Ironmaan: well-freakin’-stated!!

      i’m tired of working MY butt off to pay MY bills, when others are allowed by the gubmint to be less responsible and accountable for their own decisions.

      quit using MY money for lame programs that DON’T WORK!!

      T.E.A.!!

      Report Post » AmericanGeekGurl  
    • MIBUGNU2
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:02pm

      HUH ?? Watch the other hand !! It’s gonna cost someone….

      Report Post » MIBUGNU2  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:08pm

      BO is DUMB DUMB DUMB….There is no other word…

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • HairOfTheDogSob
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:22pm

      Tell thevrealestate whores to go to collehe..refuse to support them.

      Report Post » HairOfTheDogSob  
    • C. Schwehr
      Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:54pm

      Property TAX = Property RENT from the government. If the government can “legally” take your property because you don‘t give them their yearly payment then IT’S NOT YOUR PROPERTY! Try skipping your rent payment for one year and see where you’re living by the end of that year…..IT’S NOT YOUR PROPERTY…YOU ONLY RENT!

      Report Post »  
    • Patrick in AZ
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 12:17am

      Let the re-election slush funds begin!

      Report Post » Patrick in AZ  
    • TheCenturion
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 12:37am

      This is what happens when the government nationalizes the housing market.

      A government powerful enough to provide everything need, is a government with enough power to take everything you have.

      I hope and pray that when the lid blows off this Fast and Furious investigation Obama is also implicated, impeached, and tried for treason. The man, and his handlers are EVIL.

      Report Post »  
    • woodyb
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 1:06am

      No, because if your house is paid off, you are not one of the “victims” of the mortgage lenders and you are, in all likelihood, not on welfare, so you qualify for absolutely NO government help!!!

      That is the price you pay for obeying the laws, paying your bills, and acting like a responsible adult!!!

      Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 6:41am

      This is designed to get people to default on their mortgages.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • vdavid
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:21am

      Why bother working at all???? You see an honest family trying to make end meet with working anything they can. Then on the other hand you have permanent generations of Sec.8 housing, food stamps, welfare, free medical, and who knows what other entitlement programs for free. You’ll probably see a $60k car parked out front too. What else can Washington possibly give you to have your life in there control? Why create jobs when you can create voting subjects!!!! Heck, I’d be better-off quitting my job too!!

      Report Post » vdavid  
    • vdavid
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:39am

      Proposed free housing for a year??? Why bother working at all???? You see an honest family trying to make end meet by working anything they can. Then on the other hand you have permanent generations of Sec.8 housing, food stamps, welfare, free medical, and who knows what other entitlement programs for free. Now we’re going to through in Housing! You’ll probably see a $60k car parked out front too. What else can Washington possibly give you to have your life in there control? Why create jobs when you can create voting subjects!!!! Heck, I’d be better-off quitting my job too!!

      Every thing in our economy seems to be artificially supported to what end? When it finally crashes there will be no way to fix it without totally revamping the entire system. Will we end up with another round of closed door meetings in Washington that will tell the American public how they will live via the government? Rest assured, nothing that is happening in Washington is done by accident!!! Why no investigations into Fanny & Freddie, or is this the means to an end. It took a lot of planning to get to this point, it wasn’t an accident.

      Washington still doesn’t get it, WE ARE BROKE!!!

      Report Post » vdavid  
    • 937maggiemae
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 8:47am

      Why yes you can. You can get behind up to 5 years on your property taxes before anything starts to stir. Then after that u have a couple more years in office work. So the same with these new laws. It’s not saying no one will pay…it will just have to be paid later or go bust and lose your home…just like property taxes.

      Report Post »  
    • Vito4260
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:15am

      Excellent question!

      Report Post »  
    • checkbeck
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:20am

      That was my thought exactly. My home is paid for and because of the rise in property tax and home owners insurance doubling since Hurricane Katrina and the cut in our household income. We won’t be able to afford our “paid for home”

      Report Post »  
    • tranymike
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 9:39am

      just try it the goverment will turn your house into HUD or a halfway house and if your real lucky a homeless shelter

      Report Post » tranymike  
    • touch
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:44am

      Nice try Obama administration. I think the American so-called homeowner(s) are Waaaaay ahead of you on this one.

      Report Post »  
    • Texans stand UP
      Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:50am

      Is this a call for all of the honest and hard working folks to stop making their payments Too

      Report Post » Texans stand UP  
    • DissatisfiedWithEmAll
      Posted on July 11, 2011 at 2:46pm

      He’s trying to break the banks and FORCE failure.

      Report Post »  
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