The FHA, or Federal Housing Association, has grown in the last two years to a considerable size. This just shows how important this one agency can be when it comes to helping a country to get out of the mortgage hole it is in. The latest numbers are quite considerably. By the end of 2008, FHA will provide guarantees for as many as 3 in 10 American home loan borrowers. 

FHA provides only a guarantee to the loan, not the loan itself. Traditional mortgage lenders qualified to work with FHA still fund the loan and service it. Should the borrower default on the loan, FHA will pitch in to help cover the costs of the loan. This helps to insure the loan and therefore allows more lenders with assurance that they can lend to these buyers.

Many of the people that will be included in that picture are those with bad credit. Others are those who do not have any verification of income on the books (FHA loans can help hard to qualify lenders to get these loans.)

As you may know, the HOPE for Homeowners Program kicked in on October 1st, 2008 and gives FHA even more opportunity to help the average homeowner. The program is aimed at helping people to get better loans.  The program was put in place through Congress action and the Bush Administration. It gives FHA the ability to guarantee up to $300 billion in home loans. These are fixed rate home loans specifically for those who are struggling.  The program will be in place over the next three years.

What does this mean for the outlook? According to the Congressional Budget Office, there will be about 400,000 households in the US that will get FHA home loans in the coming years.  OF those, it claims that about one third of them will fall behind at some time on those loans.

What’s the risk?  There is risk here in the Hope for Homeowners program, according to some. They fear that the government is taking on some of the worst loans out there and that this could pose a risk.  Yet, FHA loan requirements are out there and they are much stricter than those offered subprime loans in the not so distant past.

FHA loans make sense and the ability of the FHA to provide this type of backing to the American family is necessary. The fact is: the only way to get out of the housing slump is to get good home buyers buying homes. This program and others like it, will continue to do that.

FHA Secure is an FHA program that you should know about. It was specifically designed to tackle some of the largest problems in the housing industry today and it has done well at accomplishing this, thus far. While I believe there is much more work to do, FHA Secure is a strong program designed to provide people with assistance.

Let’s look at some numbers.

The FHA Secure program is now a year old. During the last year, this program has helped refinance the mortgages of more than 325,000 Americans. That is a considerable number.  The goal of the program is to help at least 500,000 people y the end of 2008 and it appears to be on track to accomplish that.

FHA Secure can help you, too.  This is not a new loan and it is not something that is a free ride. Rather, it gives help to those who need to get into new loans the opportunity to do so. Many homeowners have the ability to pay on their mortgages but may have fallen behind and cannot get caught up. Others have had adjusted rates on their ARM loans which has caused them to fall behind or struggle. These people can pay for their loans with help getting into a better loan. FHA Secure seems to be just what is necessary to accomplish this.

FHA Secure lends help to those needing to refinance their home loans but have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.  Prior to the start of the program in August of 2007, many people were losing their homes after just missing a few payments or being late, after their rates had adjusted and they suffered from an initial shock of that adjustment.

In July of this year, FHA Secure also helped many people that were already at the default stage of the foreclosure of their homes. By expanding who they could help, the program expanded the opportunities for good Americans to remain in their homes.

The program is a good one and will continue to provide this type of help for the months ahead. If you find yourself in this type of situation, contact an FHA loan specialist to get help. They will work with you to determine if your loan situation helps you to qualify for this readjustment. Many American homeowners are able to find help here and can stay in their homes as a result.