Few homeowners take refinancing offer
Published: Tue, Nov. 04, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Tue, Nov. 04, 2008 01:40AM
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closeWASHINGTON -- The government expects only 20,000 troubled borrowers will apply to refinance into more affordable home loans by next fall under a mortgage aid program passed by lawmakers in the summer.
The $300 billion "Hope for Homeowners" program was launched Oct. 1. The Congressional Budget Office had projected it would let 400,000 troubled homeowners swap risky loans for conventional 30-year fixed rate loans with lower rates.
But the early results are discouraging: only 42 applications in the program's first two weeks.
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Steve O'Halloran, spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called the projection of nearly 20,000 borrowers "an extremely preliminary estimate of early applications for a program that is barely a month old. Borrowers and lenders are continuing to sign up."
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