CNNMoney.com
Companies Economy International Corrections Pre-market Trading After-hours Trading Winners/Losers/Actives Bonds Currencies Commodities World Markets Money Magazine Real Estate Taxes Jobs Ask the Expert Money 101 Autos Mutual Funds The Help Desk Loan Center Best Places to Live Ask the Expert Ultimate Guide to Retirement Retirement Calculators Rules of Retirement Best Funds Best Places to Retire Fortune Brainstorm Tech Apple 2.0 Blog Big Tech Blog Sectors and Stocks Tech Talk Resource Guide Small Business Makeovers Questions & Answers Small Business Video 100 Best Places to Launch FSB 100 Fortune Small Business Fortune 500 Brainstorm Tech Investing Management C-Suite Rankings Main Create Portfolio Edit Portfolio Create Alerts Edit Alerts
2 of 8
BACKNEXT
Obama plan - Four months later
In the four months since President Obama unveiled his foreclosure prevention plan, troubled borrowers have descended on their mortgage servicers looking for help. Most institutions only started accepting applications in April and report that they are overwhelmed by the response.

Under the administration's plan, people with little or no equity in their home can refinance to take advantage of today's lower rates. The plan waives the requirement that homeowners have at least 20% equity in their home, allowing them to participate even if they have loans of up to 105% of the value of their property, as long as they meet other criteria. This aids those who are current in their payments but have seen their home values decline.

Also, eligible borrowers who are in or at risk of default may be able to lower their monthly payments to no more than 31% of their pre-tax income. This can help those who are not making as much at their jobs or who have monthly payments they can't handle. Homeowners, servicers and mortgage investors can receive incentives to entice them to participate in the program.

Homeowners report mixed experiences. Some have sailed through and say their lower payments have allowed them to keep their homes and their sanity. Others, however, have gotten nothing but grief from the process. They report that the servicers require they send in their information over and over again and then don't respond to their calls. Some are ready to throw up their hands and go into foreclosure.

NEXT: Kevin Richmond, Charlotte, N.C. - Endless waiting

Last updated July 06 2009: 3:05 PM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
More Galleries
Biggest losers: Where Americans aren't moving Through most of the decade Florida was one of the fastest growing states. But the sunny clime -- and 6 others -- lost more residents than they gained in the year ended July 1. More
8 hot cars: Class of 2000 In just 10 years, the market's changed a lot when it comes to cars. Where are these models now? The Prius became a hit; the Aztek got killed. More
Obama's Main Street favorites President Obama meets often with small business owners, peppering his speeches with their stories. We checked in with 6 entrepreneurs touted by the President to find out how they handle health care. More

Special Offer
© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Advertising Practices.
Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.
Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.