Mortgage help offered for homeowners

There's a new attempt out of the White House to help the foreclosure crisis that's still gripping much of America.

So what is the Obama administration doing and what does it mean for you?

This marks the second time this year that Washington has come out with a plan to deal with the nation's foreclosure crisis and keep more people from losing their homes.

This new FHA refinance opportunity was just made available Monday.

And the government is trying to help the roughly $1.5 million homeowners who are "underwater."

That is, the people who owe more on their home loan than their home is worth.

Under the plan, the federal government will let banks and other lenders forgive at least 10-percent of the loan amount.

So you would still have a mortgage, but it would be reduced by 10-percent.

"The main purpose of the program is to stop the bleeding in the housing market and the further decline of the property values," said Deidre Newton, Licensed Real Estate Broker.

"I hope it works. I think as many programs as we can get that will help homeowners and our community is something that needs to be considered."

Here are some key points.

First, the program is voluntary for lenders and banks. They do not have to participate.

But the feeling is that they would rather keep a loan at 90-percent than to have no loan at all.

You must owe more on your mortgage than the property is worth.

You must meet certain FHA and HUD guidelines.

And you must be current on your mortgage payments.

To find out if you qualify, contact your lender.

The FHA estimates that this new re-finance program for underwater borrowers will help up to 1.5 million homeowners.