After several months of waiting, beleaguered homeowners with loans guaranteed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will receive assistance from the federal government. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, recently announced this new plan to stop foreclosures, which is scheduled to start on December 15, 2008.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair has proposed a program directed towards delinquent homeowners to help them avoid foreclosure.
This program is part of the FDIC’s effort to save nearly 1.5 millions properties from foreclosure which the agency estimates would cost about $24.4 billion. It would cover delinquent mortgage loans that are not guaranteed [...]

Homeowners associations (HOA’s) are reeling from the impact that foreclosures have brought to their communities and neighborhoods. With the number of abandoned homes increasing in towns and cities, association dues remains unpaid causing existing homeowners absorb this deficit through an increase in their monthly association fees.

Foreclosure rates in the country continue its double-digit rise as compared to statistics from the previous year. One out of 452 homes in the U.S. received a foreclosures notice last October, which is up 25 percent compared to last year.

According to sources in Washington, the United States government has proposed a plan to help homeowners facing foreclosures. Federal officials announced the plan last Tuesday as giants in the mortgage market such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae launched a new approach to deal with the millions of foreclosure homes. They are offering borrowers prolonged loan terms or decreased interest rates in order to make the payments affordable.

Florida, also swept under the same financial crisis wave that is rolling across the country, had to deal with several foreclosed homes in most of its counties. Florida foreclosures continue to be on the rise that state officials need to develop plans and programs on how to deal with this real estate crisis.

A pre-foreclosure period is the time before official foreclosure occurs. It usually lasts from seven to sixty days, depending on the state. According to real estate experts, this is the period best for purchasing a home.

At a symposium held by Long Island Housing Partnership, County Executive Suozzi spoke on the foreclosure crisis and urged mortgage companies to enforce a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. He cited the example of JPMorgan Chase which provided troubled borrowers with a grace period of 90 days to enable them to obtain financial advice and find refinancing solutions.

Governor O’Malley has extended a foreclosure program he launched in June 2007 to help homeowners keep their homes and control the soaring number of foreclosed properties across the state.

For every one percent of foreclosed homes in Florida in September 2008, Barack Obama took away 16 percentage points from McCain. For every one percent of unemployed Floridians, Obama took away almost two percentage points from McCain. McCain lost Florida, with 50.9 percent of voters delivering their votes to Obama.