The crux of he foreclosure avoidance plan of the President is to obtain $75 billion from the funds that have been earmarked by Congress for bailing out the financial services industry and use it instead to combat the rising number of foreclosures.  The three main goals of the Barack Obama foreclosure prevention program are refinancing, more loan modifications, and the provision of more home loans

The number of foreclosure homes increased by more than five percent during the third quarter of 2009 when compared to the previous quarter.  The Making Home Affordable program of the federal government was unable to stop the rise in foreclosure filings in spite of its attempts to decrease the monthly payments of the homeowners who are experiencing financial hardships by making it easier for them to qualify for a loan modification.  It appears that the government program has been overwhelmed by the large number of layoffs.

The Obama foreclosure rescue strategy makes sure that there are more new loans available in the housing market, recommends the approval of more loan refinancing applications, and stimulates an increase in the number of permitted loan modifications by banks and lenders.  The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which was signed into law by the President himself in May 2009, supports the foreclosure initiative.  This legislation was designed to make some adjustments to the Hope for Homeowners Act that was then given the goal of aiding borrowers who had outstanding mortgage loans with values that were more than the selling prices of their homes.

Foreclosure news continues to dominate national headlines as the unemployement rate keeps climbing.  The first quarter of 2009 reported that nearly 6% of borrowers are already behind on their mortgage payments or are in the brink of foreclosure.  In comparison to a year ago, this number has doubled.  The MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) has stated that it sees this news as very “troubling”.