Some Details On The Housing Plan Which Aims To Help 9 Million Homeowners

Some of the points:

1. It is limited to borrowers who owe up to 5 percent more than their home is currently valued. So if you are under water by a greater percent you most probably can not take advantage of this program.
2. Some California cities like Modesto and Merced have a rate of about one out of every 10 homeowners that will not qualify because they have a mortgage in which they owe more than 50 percent than their home is currently worth.
3. A large number of homeowners that will not qualify for this program are in the hardest hit states- California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
4. Of the nearly 52 million homeowners with a mortgage, almost 14 million (27 percent) owe more on their mortgage than the home is currently worth and this is according to Moody's Economy.com. In Nevada almost half of all borrowers are "under water" as of December 2008 according to First American CoreLogic.
5. The modification program lasts until 2012 and borrowers who are eligible must provide their most recent tax return and 2 pay stubs, as well as an "affidavit of financial hardship" to qualify.
6. Borrowers are only allowed to modify their loans once and mortgages for single family homes above $ 729,750 are excluded.
7. Lenders may reduce rates to as low as 2 percent for 5 years but after that the rate will go to about 5 percent until the mortgage is paid.

I will continue to post updates on this topic.