Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said he's pleased the Obama Administration has provided a second extension of the Making Home Affordable Program.
“Nevada has been hit the hardest by the housing market crisis. It is imperative that we work to help struggling homeowners who have lost so much in something that they have worked so hard to keep," said Reid in a press statement.
"I am pleased to hear that the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have extended the application deadline for the Making Home Affordable Program until the end of 2015," he stated. "I look forward to working with the administration to assist more homeowners in Nevada and across the country.”
Homeowners should visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov for more information about free resources for assistance or call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673).
Since its launch in March 2009, about 1.6 million actions have been taken through the program to provide relief to homeowners and nearly 1.3 million homeowners have been helped directly by the program. The Making Home Affordable Program includes the Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP, which modifies the terms of a homeowner’s mortgage to reduce their monthly payment to prevent foreclosure.
As of March 2013, more than 1.1 million homeowners have received a permanent modification of their mortgage through HAMP, with a median savings of $546 every month – or 38 percent of their previous payment.
Data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows that the median savings for homeowners in HAMP is higher than the median savings for homeowners in private industry modifications, which has helped homeowners in HAMP sustain their mortgage payments at higher rates. As a result, HAMP modifications continue to exhibit lower delinquency and re-default rates than industry modifications.
The Making Home Affordable Program has also put into place important protections for homeowners that have helped inform efforts to create standards for the mortgage servicing industry.
This includes requirements for mortgage servicers regarding clear and timely communications with homeowners and protections to ensure that homeowners are evaluated for assistance before being referred to foreclosure. The Administration has issued reports on the program every month since July 2009, which provide the most detailed information available about individual servicer efforts to assist homeowners. As part of this report, Treasury issues a quarterly assessment for each of the largest servicers in the program to highlight their compliance with program requirements.
Homeowners seeking assistance with their mortgage payments should remember that there is never a fee to apply to the Making Home Affordable Program. Homeowners can work with a HUD-approved housing counseling agency free-of-charge to understand their options and apply for help.