Fourteen months ago President Obama announced the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Also known as Making Home Affordable (MHA), HAMP promised servicers with smiling faces welcoming you with open arms and expertly helping you modify your mortgage loan without the need for lawyers or any type of help other than that provided free from the government.
Yes, Dorothy wasn't in Kansas anymore, but the Tin Man was finally going to get rid of his greed and actually get a heart. However, the foreclosure mills kept churning out new foreclosure cases, people kept losing their homes, and HAMP struggled to get off the ground. Since that time the government has issued approximately thirteen Supplemental Directives designed to clarify the program, but more over force the servicers and lenders into compliance with the program.
The truth is that HAMP is an excellent program and, if followed, can have a huge impact on the current housing crisis. More Americans will be finding this out as the foreclosure crisis creeps into middle/upper income America.
This series of posts are designed to arm the Maryland homeowner with basic knowledge about HAMP and address issues that commonly arise during the modification process, or in many instances, the lack thereof. Where possible, I will use to teaching tools that I found to be very effective; humor and specific example.
So sit back and fasten your seatbelts, you're about to start on a journey that travels through time and space, you're answering the mortgage modification world.
