Overview of Home Affordability Modification Guidelines

Raleigh Homeowners take note of the loan modification guidelines. North Carolinians have not been impacted as much as other areas of the United States. With the current unemployment rate exceeding 11% in the state some owners are in distress. The Raleigh home market is recovering and we seem to have bottomed. Loan modification guidelines as below.

•Loans must have originated on or before January 1, 2000.
•Mortgages must be for a single-family residence with a loan balance no greater than $729,750.
•Loans can only be modified once beginning March 4, 2009 through December 31, 2012.
•Home cannot be vacant or condemned and must be a primary residence—not investor owned.
•Interest rate can be lowered to as low as 2 per cent and the term of the mortgage can be extended to a maximum of 40 years in order to maximize the reduction in loan payment.
•Borrowers will need to provide an “affidavit of financial hardship”, their most recent tax return, and two recent pay stubs.
•Service providers will be required to follow a sequence of steps that modify the loan in order to reduce the monthly loan payment to no more than 31% of gross monthly income.
•Homeowners who make their payments on time are eligible for up to $1,000 of principal reduction payments each year for up to five years

The country remains committed to government support for home buyers, according to a recent survey of U.S households.

Nearly 70 percent of those polled said the government should continue to support housing and some 65 percent felt the government should be doing more to keep families from losing their homes to foreclosure.

With the First time homebuyer credit of $8000 set to expire on
April 30th and the $6500 for qualified repeat homebuyers the spring market activity is picking up.

The economic recession, job losses and some uncertainty remains the largest barrier to growth in the housing market.Of the renters nationwide surveyed, 40 percent simply don’t have the money to buy a home.

The current inability of some homeowners to sell their current home in depressed markets remains the biggest obstacle. Many homeowners feel imprisoned by their home where the current value is below what they owe and some surveyed felt that homeprices were still too high too move forward.