Hope Program

Last July, the government created a program called "HOPE" which was designed to help struggling home owners keep their homes by refinancing into safer, more affordable mortgages. It was thought that the HOPE program would help about 400,000 homeowners. To date, this program has been a bust! So far the program has helped only 451 applicants and just 25 loans have closed. Lenders find the program difficult to participate in because of many of the program's constraints. This week, there is a proposed revision to the program, which the NAR supports. The new program, if passed, would lower participation standards, cut costs for consumers and reduce the cost of implementation for lenders.

We'll wait and see if the new program will be any better.