At the end of 2016, the largest federal relief program available to homeowners impacted by the financial crisis will expire. Making Home Affordable (MHA) is a government program introduced in 2009 in response to the subprime mortgage crisis. The Home Affordable Modification Plan (HAMP), the first and largest program under MHA, is designed to help financially struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure through loan modifications that are affordable and sustainable for buyers over time. Since its inception, HAMP has provided clear and consistent loan modification guidelines and incentives for borrowers, servicers, and investors alike. The expiration of HAMP will have significant consequences for homeowners throughout Philadelphia.
The subprime mortgage crisis hit Philadelphia hard. Philadelphia has always been a city of homeowners, with a higher homeownership rate per capita than most big cities in the Northeast and Midwest. For nearly all of the approximately 400,000 Philadelphians living below the poverty line, these homes constitute their single most important asset. The subprime mortgage crisis threatened both individual homeowners and the Philadelphia community at large with the potential foreclosure of thousands of homes. By early 2008, nearly 200 homes per month were being auctioned off by the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office.
