According to the Arizona Republic, the federal mortgage aid program called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has not provided as much help to homeowners as it originally promised.
This program, originally implemented 15 months ago, has been a disappointment to many phoenix area homeowners. To even qualify for the program, homeowners must endure excessive amounts of paperwork, and extended trail periods without the promise of being accepted into the loan modification program.
As stated in the Arizona Republic:
Tens of thousands are still trying to have their mortgage payment lowered through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. Meanwhile, foreclosures in Phoenix hit an all-time high in March.
Delays plague the program. Homeowners who applied for loan modifications last summer are still waiting.
Other homeowners landed temporary loan modifications and make reduced trial payments as they wait for lenders to finalize the deals. Trial payments are intended to see if the homeowner can afford the reduced rate.
Complaints about this program began when the program was first implemented and have only increased throughout its duration. Homeowners who are facing foreclosure do not have the time to complete the extremely slow acceptance period into the program. The frustrations only rise when many of the applicants to the programs endure the trail period of up to six months, only to find out they are not accepted into the program and will have no choice but to foreclose on their property.
Even though the number of complaints about this program are increasing every day, the federal government is not ready to give up on the program just yet. The government recently announced that it would be giving an addition 1.5 billion dollars to the states hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis. This includes Arizona.
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