White House Announces More Housing Initiatives

HUD Servicemembers

On March 6, President Obama presented additional programs designed to provide relief to homeowners. In advance of the announcement, the White House released a fact sheet outlining the programs, which attempt to reach FHA borrowers and servicemembers and veterans. With regard to FHA borrowers, the Administration is reducing up-front and annual mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers that want to refinance loans originated prior to June 1, 2009 through FHA’s streamline refinance program. For servicemembers and veterans, the announcement did not include any new relief, but rather recited the relevant terms of the multi-party settlement with five major mortgage servicers announced last month. Those terms are further described in an executive summary of the settlement.