By Lisa Prevost | The New York Times
A government program aimed at helping “underwater” homeowners refinance into more-affordable, reduced-principal loans has captured only a sliver of the borrowers thought to be eligible in the four years since its introduction.
The Federal Housing Administration’s Refinance of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions program, more commonly known as the F.H.A. Short Refi, enables borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth to refinance into an F.H.A. loan with a lower monthly payment.
But lender participation is voluntary. And only about 4,600 F.H.A. loans have been originated under the program, a far cry from the 500,000 to 1.5 million borrowers the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated could be helped when it announced the program in 2010.
