Home Affordable Modification Program

• The Home Affordable Modification Program is a government program that gives qualified homeowners a chance to refinance their mortgages and reduce their monthly payments. Homeowners who owned their homes before January 1, 2009, have monthly mortgage payments that exceed 31 percent of their income and have a financial hardship are eligible for the program, according to Making Home Affordable.com. Under the program, the homeowner will work with the lender to reduce their mortgage payments to less than 31 percent of their income. Lenders can reduce interest rates, extend the length of the mortgage or defer some of the principal.
  
  

Home Affordable Refinance Program

• The government-run Home Affordable Refinance Program gives qualified homeowners with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac secured home loan a chance to refinance their mortgages. As a result, the homeowner may have a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments. In order to qualify, the homeowner must have a good credit rating and cannot have been late on their mortgage payments in the last 12 months, according to Making Home Affordable.com. While refinancing done under this program typically benefits struggling homeowners, the refinanced loan may not always be better than the original loan. Homeowners should compare each carefully before making a decision.
  
  

Hope Now

• Hope Now is a collective group of mortgage professionals who help low-income and struggling homeowners stay in their homes. Hope Now can help delinquent homeowners create a repayment plan with their lender. Through the repayment plan, the lender will divide the delinquent payments over time, typically fewer than 10 months, and add them to the regular mortgage payment, according to Hope Now. The group can negotiate loan modifications with lenders to bring homeowners up to date on their mortgage payments. Hope Now can also create a Partial Claim for FHA loans that allows the homeowner to roll their late payments into an interest-free second mortgage.
  
  

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program

• Sometimes homeowners cannot afford to stay in their homes, regardless of help, or they do not qualify for mortgage programs offered by the government. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program allows homeowners to attempt to short sale their property to avoid foreclosure. Homeowners can give the bank homes that do not sell as a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. Both of these options will allow the homeowner to avoid the negative effects of foreclosure.