How’s The Hope For Homeowners Program Working?

When the Federal government passed the Hope for Homeowners Act, it was done for the specific purpose of bailing out troubled homeowners.  The act went into effect and started “helping” troubled homeowners on October 1, 2008.

Is it working? Well, when it was passed, the housing industry and the US Government estimated that it would help 400,000 troubled homeowners.  Of course, there are severe limits on who the plan can help.  In a nutshell, it only applies if the home is your principal residence and you haven’t been delinquent during the life of the loan.

That last provision is the killer, because almost everyone facing mortgage problems has been late at least once.  My colleague, Dana Wilkinson wrote an excellent article on these and other specifics when the law passed.

So, of the 400,000 or so homeowners that this program is supposed to help, during the first three weeks of operation, 42 were actually helped according to Robert Greenspan of FTI Consulting.  Seems like we have a long way to go!

Related posts:

1. More Thoughts On The Hope For Homeowners Act of 2008, Economy & Unemployment in Florida
2. Thoughts on the “Hope for Homeowners Act of 2008″
3. Hope for Homeowners–and a Great Big Trap