The Obama administration’s efforts to help homeowners remain in their homes through a government loan modification program have taken a body blow with recent news about the success, or lack thereof, of the program. The Treasury Department and the Housing and Urban Development Department reported that despite having achieved loan modifications through the federal program, the number of homeowners who defaulted on their mortgages almost doubled in March. Since the program began helping homeowners last fall, more than 1,000 participants defaulted on their modified mortgages in January, 1,499 defaulted in February and that number nearly doubled to 2,879 in March. These defaults, euphemistically called “cancellations,” have the Treasury Department at a loss for explaining why a program intended specifically to reduce mortgage defaults for participants has been ineffective. Around seven million households in America are behind in their mortgage payments due to a number of factors, primarily job losses. The Treasury Department’s goal for the program is to help up to four million homeowners keep their homes. However, a recent oversight report was much less optimistic, saying, “but only some of these offers will result in temporary modifications, and only some of those modifications will convert to final, five-year status. Even among borrowers who receive five-year modifications, some will eventually fall behind on their payments and once again face foreclosure. In the final reckoning, the goal itself seems small in comparison to the magnitude of the problem.” If you’ve been thinking about selling your home in the Louisville area to get out from under a mortgage obligation or simply because you don’t need as much space as you once did, call the Louisville discount real estate broker at Louisville Properties today. He offers flat-fee MLS listings, FSBO tools and much more. Call 502.744.9504 to learn more. Resource Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/business/15mortgages.html?8au&emc=au