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 Housing
  • Real help. Reas answers. Right now. Families who have found help.

    MHA has been extended through 2013

    In an effort to reach more struggling homeowners, the Obama Administration extended the Making Home Affordable Program ® to December 31, 2013, and expanded the eligibility criteria.

    Read more of this article

  • A family, smiling and happy

    Making Home Affordable PSAs

    Treasury and HUD partnered with the Ad Council to create a public service advertising (PSA) campaign to inform struggling homeowners about the program and learn about their options.

    Read more of this article

  • Mother and daughter smiling

    Visita MHA en espanol

    El sitio web oficial del Programa Making Home Affordable es un componente crítico del plan de la Administración Obama para ayudar a propietarios de vivienda con sus hipotecas y evitar la ejecución hipotecaria.

    Read more of this article
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This page provides general background and information on the housing programs established by Treasury under TARP.  If you are a homeowner seeking help with your mortgage, please visit Making Home Affordable.

 
 In the beginning of 2009, the U.S. economy was facing the fallout from a housing bubble that by some measures had doubled home prices in a period of six years. By the time the Obama Administration took office in January 2009, home prices had fallen for 30 straight months.  Home values had fallen by nearly one-third. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been in conservatorship for four months, and American families were struggling to buy and keep their homes.

In February 2009, President Obama announced a number of steps to strengthen the housing market and help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. As part of this broad response to the housing crisis, Treasury, under TARP, established two central programs, Making Home Affordable® (MHA)  and the Hardest Hit Fund ®(HHF). 

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Key Facts

  • Treasury, under TARP, launched Making Home Affordable® (MHA), to provide mortgage relief to homeowners and prevent avoidable foreclosures.
  • The cornerstone of MHA is the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP®), which permanently reduces mortgage payments to affordable levels for qualifying borrowers. MHA has since been expanded to include a number of other specialized programs.
  • Treasury also introduced the Hardest Hit Fund® (HHF), which helps those states hardest hit by home price declines and high unemployment to develop locally-tailored foreclosure prevention solutions.
  • Treasury's programs are part of a wider government response designed to help homeowners, preserve communities, and keep mortgage rates affordable for families. 
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Programs at a Glance

The Making Home Affordable Program® (MHA) provides mortgage relief to homeowners to prevent avoidable foreclosures. This includes the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which permanently reduces mortgage payments to affordable levels for qualifying borrowers. MHA has since been expanded to include a number of other specialized programs.

The Hardest Hit Fund® was created to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn. The participating 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.

 

 

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Last Updated: 7/13/2012 2:03 PM