Hope for Homeowners (H4H) Program

Federal government created “Hope for Homeowners” (H4H) program to help those struggling homeowners who are facing difficulty with their mortgages by refinancing their loan into FHA insured mortgages they can afford.

This program is effective from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011 and is supposed to help 400,000 troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Borrowers eligibility criteria for Hope for Homeowners plan:

1) Their mortgage must have originated on or before January 1, 2008

2) Their mortgage monthly payments exceeding 31% of their income

3) They cannot afford their current loan

4) The borrower did not intentionally default on the mortgage payments and

5) They do not own second homes

Features of FHA-insured loans under the new program include:

1) 30-year, fixed rate mortgage

2) Maximum 90 percent loan-to-value ratio

3) No prepayment penalties

4) $550,440 maximum mortgage amount

5) Extinguishment of any subordinate liens and

6) New home appraisals from FHA-approved appraisers.

For more information on how this H4H program works, click here.