Redding homeowners, help is on the way!  Saturday the US Senate passed the Housing Rescue Bill, a bill allowing nearly 400,000 home owners to refinance into affordable, government-backed loans. The bill, strongly supported by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, passed by a margin of 72-13. The House of Representatives approved the bill on Wednesday in a 272-15 vote.

According to to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the bill will help bring stability to the housing market and put a dent in the rising rate of foreclosures. The program will be run by the Federal Housing Administration, and will insure up to $300 billion in refinanced 30-year, fixed-rate loans. The mortgages can’t be for more than 90 percent of a home’s newly appraised value.

For mortgages that exceed the value of the home, the lender would have to voluntarily write down the principal to the qualifying level. If the home goes up in value, the borrower must share newly created equity with the FHA.  Experts say the success of the program depends on how receptive banks are to writing down a portion of the loan.

Some other information on the bill: If passed into law, the program will begin Oct. 1 and end Sept. 30, 2011. Also, borrowers won’t be able to qualify if they have intentionally defaulted on their loans or if they had a debt-to-income ratio of less than 31 percent as of March 1, 2008. 

So what’s left to turn the bill into a law??? The President has to sign off on the bill and then it will be enacted into law effective October 1, 2008.  So, if you are a homeowner that fears losing your home to foreclosure, there may be relief for you without having to do a short sale or be foreclosed upon! 

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