We get this from a recent Washington Post article:
A day after President Obama unveiled his $75 billion foreclosure prevention program, administration officials yesterday said they were still determining which homeowners should qualify.
The administration is developing a standard for lenders to use in evaluating applicants that seeks to exclude homeowners who are not in real need or are too far behind in their payments to be saved. Officials have set some conditions for eligibility, including requiring that borrowers’ mortgage payments consume more than 38 percent of their income and that the property be a primary residence.
Government officials are working to finalize details before a self-imposed March 4 deadline when the program will go into effect and lenders are likely to be flooded with calls.
…
Even as the administration finalizes details of the mortgage modification program, officials are getting pressure from some groups to include protection for lenders and mortgage servicers that rework a loan and worry they could face a lawsuit from investors.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is also trying to persuade the administration to expand the refinancing portion of the plan. Under that program, the administration will loosen lending standards at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow millions of homeowners to qualify for refinanced loans as long as their mortgages do not exceed 105 percent of the current value of their property. But with housing prices in a free fall in parts of the country, including Florida, California and Arizona, that will not be enough for many homeowners.
“We think that 105 percent [loan-to-value ratio] should be revisited,” said Steve O’Connor, senior vice president for government affairs at the mortgage bankers’ group.
