Hardest Hit Fund
President Obama established the Hardest Hit Fund SM in February 2010 to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn. Each state housing agency gathered public input to implement programs designed to meet the distinct challenges struggling homeowners in their state are facing. States were chosen either because they are struggling with unemployment rates at or above the national average or steep home price declines greater than 20 percent since the housing market downturn.
Each state’s plan is included below. For more information about a specific plan, please contact the state housing agency directly.
Alabama ($162,521,345)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.hardesthitalabama.com
Arizona ($267,766,006)
Proposal
For more information: https://www.savemyhomeaz.gov/
California ($1,975,334,096)
Proposal
For more information: www.keepyourhomecalifornia.org
Florida ($1,057,839,136)
Proposal
For more information: https://www.flhardesthithelp.org/
Georgia ($339,255,819)
Proposal
For more information: https://www.homesafegeorgia.com
Illinois ($445,603,557)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.ihda.org/
Indiana ($221,694,139)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.877gethope.org/
Kentucky ($148,901,875)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.kyhousing.org/
Michigan ($498,605,738)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.stepforwardmichigan.org
Mississippi ($101,888,323)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.mshomesaver.com
Nevada ($194,026,240)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.nahac.org/
New Jersey ($300,548,144)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.state.nj.us/dca/hmfa/home/foreclosure/homekeepers.html
North Carolina ($482,781,786)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.ncforeclosureprevention.gov/
Ohio ($570,395,099)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.savethedream.ohio.gov/
Oregon ($220,042,786)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org/
Rhode Island ($79,351,573)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.hhfri.org/
South Carolina ($295,431,547)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.scmortgagehelp.com/
Tennessee ($217,315,593)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.keepmytnhome.org
Washington DC ($20,697,198)
Proposal
For more information: http://www.dchfa.org/
Click here to view your State:
http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/financial-stability/housing-programs/hhf/Pages/default.aspx
10 Worst hit states Where the foreclosure rates are the highest
There were more than 360,000 properties with foreclosure filings -- including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- an increase of 7% from June and 32% from July 2008, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes. In fact, one in every 355 U.S. homes had at least one filing during July.
"July marks the third time in the last five months where we've seen a new record set for foreclosure activity," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we're seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions."
The jump occurred as several foreclosure moratoriums phased out. They were initiated by many states to give the administration's foreclosure-prevention efforts time to work. But for many help did not come: The modification and refinancing programs have met with less success than hoped.
"It's starting to reach more and more people, but we have to do better and make sure the program reaches the millions of folks we intended it to reach," said Jared Bernstein, an economics adviser to vice president Biden.
The picture would be even worse, however, without the programs.
"Each of these programs nips away at the problem of excess supply," said Doug Duncan, cheif economist for Fannie Mae, "and fights against declining prices. ... The hope is that the aggregated programs will result in less loss than would happen in the free market."
Out of their homes
RealtyTrac statistics revealed that more than 87,000 properties were repossessed by lenders, effectively sending many families out of their homes. There have been a total of 464,058 repossessions -- or REOs in industry parlance -- so far this year (through the end of July).
"We're seeing more option ARM resets, triggering defaults and more prime loans, which are failing due to job losses," said RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga.
That is resulting in more filings on higher priced homes, for two reasons: 1. option ARMs were typically used for more expensive properties; 2. borrowers using prime loans generally had better credit and were able to afford more expensive houses.
Best and worst
The worst hit areas continue to be in the "sand states," with California posting the highest number of total filings, 108,104, and Nevada posting the highest rate of foreclosure at one for every 56 homes.
The other hardest hit states are Arizona, at one filing for every 135 homes, and Florida, at one for every 154. Las Vegas, with one for every 47 homes, had the highest rate among metro areas. That's Sin City's 31st consecutive month topping the list.
These were bubble states, where home prices soared and banks financed mortgages for anyone who could fog a mirror.
10 Worst hit states
Where the foreclosure rates are the highest
Rank State Rate (One for every x households) Total number
1 Nevada 56 19,535
2 California 123 108,104
3 Arizona 135 19,694
4 Florida 154 56,486
5 Utah 350 3,694
6 Idaho 253 2,491
7 Georgia 356 11,136
8 Illinois 361 14,524
9 Colorado 388 5,488
10 Oregon 446 3,605
Click here http://www.cnbc.com/id/29655038
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Your software and unlock keycode will be emailed to you immediately after purchase.
Click here to sign up and complete the forms:
http://www.solutionssoftwarematrix.com/?a_aid=5c931b80
>
Professional Letters that are Direct and to the Point To Help Get Quick
Approval
Comprehensive Checklist
Full Instructional Videos
Run Multiple Scenarios for HAMP, Non-HAMP, and Audit Violations or Upside Down Properties
How to PASS the Obama Plan for ANY Residential Mortgage
Run Multiple Scenarios
Works with ANY Lender
Save Function Enabled
Forensic Audit Letter
Loans $100,000 or less
Loans over $100,000
Import & Export Enabled (Save Multiple Clients)
Authorization Letter
Editable Proposal Letters
Upgrades/New Features
FREE Membership in http://www.solutionssoftwarematrix.com/?a_aid=5c931b80
Live Training
NPV Test w/ What If Scenario Wizard
Custom Proposal Wizard
System Requirements: Windows Operating System, Microsoft Excel 2002 or newer, Enable Macros, and Medium Security Or Lower for Macros.
Your software and unlock keycode will be emailed to you immediately after purchase.
Click here to sign up and complete the forms:
http://www.solutionssoftwarematrix.com/?a_aid=5c931b80
Resource links
Here's the link to the listing of services' foreclosure prevention departments:
http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/ForeclosurePreventContactInfo.htm
Preserving Home ownership: Progress Needed to Prevent Foreclosures. Written testimony of Diane E. Thompson, National Consumer Law Center and on behalf of National Association of Consumer Advocates. Before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
National Consumer Law Center: www.consumerlaw.org
National Association of Consumer Advocates: www.naca.net
U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee:
http://banking.senate.gov/public
Making Home Affordable: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov
http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com/ForeclosurePreventContactInfo.htm
Preserving Home ownership: Progress Needed to Prevent Foreclosures. Written testimony of Diane E. Thompson, National Consumer Law Center and on behalf of National Association of Consumer Advocates. Before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
National Consumer Law Center: www.consumerlaw.org
National Association of Consumer Advocates: www.naca.net
U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee:
http://banking.senate.gov/public
Making Home Affordable: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov
In Atlanta—one of the areas hardest hit by foreclosures—residents who are about to lose their homes today demanded that Big Banks like Wachovia/Wells Fargo reform their policies and protect homeowners on the brink of homelessness.(See video here.)
More than 200 people, including community groups, clergy and labor and government leaders, attended a hearing at an Atlanta church and listened to area residents about to lose their homes explain the Big Banks’ role in the foreclosure crisis. The hearing was sponsored by the Atlanta Fighting Foreclosure Coalition and the AFL-CIO.
In often moving testimony, several Atlanta residents told how they had worked hard to build a life for themselves and their families only to have their dream dashed by losing their homes to foreclosure.
One witness testified his bank told him he was so far behind on his mortgage that he would need to win the lottery to catch up. An Atlanta Legal Aid worker said all the biggest banks jumped in with both feet into the subprime mortgage business.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, one of a panel of leaders who heard the testimony, said:
Foreclosure is not an equal opportunity tragedy. People of color are disproportionately hurt in part because we’re also disproportionately likely to have lost our jobs. But an even uglier factor is that we have been targeted—chosen—for the dangerous lending practices by big banks almost guaranteed to result in disaster
The hearing comes as the issue of rising foreclosures is being hotly debated across the country, focusing new attention on the role of the Big Banks. The number of U.S. bank foreclosures reached a record high in the second quarter of this year, according to the research firm RealtyTrac.
Last week, a coalition of seven New York City unions and community groups, joined by city Comptroller John Liu, told some of the biggest banks that received hundreds of billions in taxpayer bailouts that it’s time to help out homeowners facing foreclosure.
The city of Memphis and Shelby County, Tenn., filed a federal lawsuit last December against Wells Fargo, alleging “unlawful, irresponsible, unfair, deceptive and discriminatory” lending practices by the bank in Memphis and Shelby County violated the Fair Housing Act. Between 2000 and 2008, loans made by Wells Fargo in predominately black areas of Shelby County were eight times more likely to go into foreclosure than loans in white areas, even though Wells Fargo made nearly four times as many loans in mainly white communities, according to the complaint.
One homeowner told the Atlanta panel that after she was given two subprime loans, her first mortgage payment jumped from $800 a month to $1,200. Bowen is now facing eviction.
Wells Fargo bought my house at foreclosure for $34,000, yet they would not allow me to stay in the home and get a loan modification, even though I have a good income and I could afford to catch up on the missed payments if they would let me. Instead they are evicting me from my home, and it will likely sit empty for two years and be one more boarded up house in the neighborhood.
Seniors also are vulnerable to unscrupulous lenders, said president of the Alliance for Retired Americans and a panel member. One-third of people facing foreclosure are seniors.
Many retirees dedicated their whole lives to one company. There was a promise made that if you worked hard, you would have a retirement you could count on. But that promise got broken. Too many companies gambled away their pensions and savings. Our government just stood idly by, like the lookout man at a bank robbery.
One such senior is Gloria Sims, a 74-year-old retiree. She testified that a Big Bank gave her and her husband an adjustable rate mortgage they cannot repay on their fixed retirement income.
Homeowner said, seniors do not care only about themselves.
We worry about our children and grandchildren in these difficult times. We want them to be able to find a good job and a place to live, be able to start a family, and have a safe and secure retirement when their working days are done.
Immediately after the hearing, participants headed to the Wachovia/Wells Fargo downtown Atlanta branch to demand that the bank modify home loans, inform tenants in foreclosed homes of their rights and expand access to affordable loans to communities in need.
With much of the Atlanta media covering the action, four of the panelists—Holt Baker, Atlanta-North Georgia AFL-CIO President Charlie Flemming, Georgia State Sen. Vincent Fort and the Rev. Timothy McDonald—met with bank officials to discuss the foreclosure crisis.
As of May 2010, some 182,067 mortgages issued by Wells Fargo alone were eligible for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program but the bank had only permanently modified 40,579 mortgages. Wachovia has an additional estimated 31,084 eligible mortgages but had only permanently modified 1,211 or 4 percent. Wells Fargo and Wachovia merged on December 31, 2008.
The participants called on Wachovia/Wells Fargo to:
•Improve participation in the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) program to achieve a 100 percent loan modification goal.
•Reduce principal balances, reduce interest rates and make home loans affordable.
•Protect tenants in foreclosed homes.
•Stop high-interest short-term lending. Although not available in Georgia, Wells Fargo’s Direct Deposit Advance program charges fees equivalent to about a 120 percent annual percentage rate.
•Expand low-interest lending to meet the crucial need for affordable and accessible credit in poor and minority communities.
The other panelist at the hearing was John Eaves, chairman of the Fulton County (Ga.) Board of Commissioners.
More than 200 people, including community groups, clergy and labor and government leaders, attended a hearing at an Atlanta church and listened to area residents about to lose their homes explain the Big Banks’ role in the foreclosure crisis. The hearing was sponsored by the Atlanta Fighting Foreclosure Coalition and the AFL-CIO.
In often moving testimony, several Atlanta residents told how they had worked hard to build a life for themselves and their families only to have their dream dashed by losing their homes to foreclosure.
One witness testified his bank told him he was so far behind on his mortgage that he would need to win the lottery to catch up. An Atlanta Legal Aid worker said all the biggest banks jumped in with both feet into the subprime mortgage business.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, one of a panel of leaders who heard the testimony, said:
Foreclosure is not an equal opportunity tragedy. People of color are disproportionately hurt in part because we’re also disproportionately likely to have lost our jobs. But an even uglier factor is that we have been targeted—chosen—for the dangerous lending practices by big banks almost guaranteed to result in disaster
The hearing comes as the issue of rising foreclosures is being hotly debated across the country, focusing new attention on the role of the Big Banks. The number of U.S. bank foreclosures reached a record high in the second quarter of this year, according to the research firm RealtyTrac.
Last week, a coalition of seven New York City unions and community groups, joined by city Comptroller John Liu, told some of the biggest banks that received hundreds of billions in taxpayer bailouts that it’s time to help out homeowners facing foreclosure.
The city of Memphis and Shelby County, Tenn., filed a federal lawsuit last December against Wells Fargo, alleging “unlawful, irresponsible, unfair, deceptive and discriminatory” lending practices by the bank in Memphis and Shelby County violated the Fair Housing Act. Between 2000 and 2008, loans made by Wells Fargo in predominately black areas of Shelby County were eight times more likely to go into foreclosure than loans in white areas, even though Wells Fargo made nearly four times as many loans in mainly white communities, according to the complaint.
One homeowner told the Atlanta panel that after she was given two subprime loans, her first mortgage payment jumped from $800 a month to $1,200. Bowen is now facing eviction.
Wells Fargo bought my house at foreclosure for $34,000, yet they would not allow me to stay in the home and get a loan modification, even though I have a good income and I could afford to catch up on the missed payments if they would let me. Instead they are evicting me from my home, and it will likely sit empty for two years and be one more boarded up house in the neighborhood.
Seniors also are vulnerable to unscrupulous lenders, said president of the Alliance for Retired Americans and a panel member. One-third of people facing foreclosure are seniors.
Many retirees dedicated their whole lives to one company. There was a promise made that if you worked hard, you would have a retirement you could count on. But that promise got broken. Too many companies gambled away their pensions and savings. Our government just stood idly by, like the lookout man at a bank robbery.
One such senior is Gloria Sims, a 74-year-old retiree. She testified that a Big Bank gave her and her husband an adjustable rate mortgage they cannot repay on their fixed retirement income.
Homeowner said, seniors do not care only about themselves.
We worry about our children and grandchildren in these difficult times. We want them to be able to find a good job and a place to live, be able to start a family, and have a safe and secure retirement when their working days are done.
Immediately after the hearing, participants headed to the Wachovia/Wells Fargo downtown Atlanta branch to demand that the bank modify home loans, inform tenants in foreclosed homes of their rights and expand access to affordable loans to communities in need.
With much of the Atlanta media covering the action, four of the panelists—Holt Baker, Atlanta-North Georgia AFL-CIO President Charlie Flemming, Georgia State Sen. Vincent Fort and the Rev. Timothy McDonald—met with bank officials to discuss the foreclosure crisis.
As of May 2010, some 182,067 mortgages issued by Wells Fargo alone were eligible for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program but the bank had only permanently modified 40,579 mortgages. Wachovia has an additional estimated 31,084 eligible mortgages but had only permanently modified 1,211 or 4 percent. Wells Fargo and Wachovia merged on December 31, 2008.
The participants called on Wachovia/Wells Fargo to:
•Improve participation in the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) program to achieve a 100 percent loan modification goal.
•Reduce principal balances, reduce interest rates and make home loans affordable.
•Protect tenants in foreclosed homes.
•Stop high-interest short-term lending. Although not available in Georgia, Wells Fargo’s Direct Deposit Advance program charges fees equivalent to about a 120 percent annual percentage rate.
•Expand low-interest lending to meet the crucial need for affordable and accessible credit in poor and minority communities.
The other panelist at the hearing was John Eaves, chairman of the Fulton County (Ga.) Board of Commissioners.
11 things to do when requesting a Loan Modification with your Lender
Top 11 things to do when requesting a Loan Modification with your lender:
1. Learn how to write an effective hardship letter
2. What to avoid so that you’re not denied a Loan Modification
3. How to complete your financial statements so that your Loan Modification is approved
4. How to calculate your Debt-to-Income Ratios correctly so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
5. All necessary forms so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
6. List of documents you need to submit so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
7. How to eliminate fees, penalties and past due balances after your Loan Modification is approved
8. How to negotiate with the lender to get your Loan Modification approved
9. Learn about the NEW Obama's Marking Home Affordable program http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/Program
10. PURCHASE MY LOAN MODIFICATION SURVIVAL GUIDE EBOOK AND GET YOUR RATE DOWN TO 2% JUST LIKE I DID!
11. Get State by state resources and much much more!!
http://loanmodsgonebad.blogspot.com/
1. Learn how to write an effective hardship letter
2. What to avoid so that you’re not denied a Loan Modification
3. How to complete your financial statements so that your Loan Modification is approved
4. How to calculate your Debt-to-Income Ratios correctly so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
5. All necessary forms so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
6. List of documents you need to submit so that you’re Loan Modification will be approved
7. How to eliminate fees, penalties and past due balances after your Loan Modification is approved
8. How to negotiate with the lender to get your Loan Modification approved
9. Learn about the NEW Obama's Marking Home Affordable program http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/Program
10. PURCHASE MY LOAN MODIFICATION SURVIVAL GUIDE EBOOK AND GET YOUR RATE DOWN TO 2% JUST LIKE I DID!
11. Get State by state resources and much much more!!
http://loanmodsgonebad.blogspot.com/
Give families a chance - support a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures.
Join the Call for a 90-Day Foreclosure Moratorium
Click here to view and sign ACORN's petition!
Loan companies must prove they tried to modify the delinquent loans before they can begin foreclosing.
If the bank does not renegotiate, the home owner still has 90 days until the bank can take the house.
Recently, several of the country's largest mortgage companies have announced that they are implementing a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures.
This is good news for families. The moratorium will allow them to stay in their homes and have time to work out an affordable loan modification with their mortgage lenders.
The bad news: not all lenders have instituted the moratorium. ACORN believes that a moratorium combined with a commitment by lenders to work with homeowners on affordable terms are critical first steps to help families survive the economic crisis. If we can stabilize families in their homes, we can begin to address the egregious predatory lending practices that have put communities in crisis in the first place.
Please join us - sign the petition below. This petition asks lenders who have instated a 90-day foreclosure moratorium to use this time to work out affordable loan modifications for homeowners. It also asks lenders who have not agreed to a moratorium to join with those who have in taking this important step to solving the foreclosure crisis.
Click here to view and sign ACORN's petition!
Loan companies must prove they tried to modify the delinquent loans before they can begin foreclosing.
If the bank does not renegotiate, the home owner still has 90 days until the bank can take the house.
Recently, several of the country's largest mortgage companies have announced that they are implementing a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures.
This is good news for families. The moratorium will allow them to stay in their homes and have time to work out an affordable loan modification with their mortgage lenders.
The bad news: not all lenders have instituted the moratorium. ACORN believes that a moratorium combined with a commitment by lenders to work with homeowners on affordable terms are critical first steps to help families survive the economic crisis. If we can stabilize families in their homes, we can begin to address the egregious predatory lending practices that have put communities in crisis in the first place.
Please join us - sign the petition below. This petition asks lenders who have instated a 90-day foreclosure moratorium to use this time to work out affordable loan modifications for homeowners. It also asks lenders who have not agreed to a moratorium to join with those who have in taking this important step to solving the foreclosure crisis.
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