Even if the new FHA housing bill makes it past the President’s veto threat it now looks like it wouldn’t go live until October 1st. That is hard news for homeowners in trouble right now. See this recent CNNMoney.com article on the subject. Here is an excerpt:
In making its estimates, the CBO assumed a June 1 start date for the FHA program. But the Senate version of the legislation – considered more politically viable than the House bill – would start the program on Oct. 1.
That four-month difference is likely to flush from consideration a segment of the bill’s immediate target group: the 1.5 million subprime borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) whose loans are scheduled to reset in 2008.
Come Oct. 1, many of those whose ARMs reset between January and May might have already had their homes repossessed or left them during the foreclosure process.
…
“The people the bill will most likely help are those resetting in the third quarter and beyond.” Sharga said. “The people who reset in the first quarter will almost certainly be beyond help.”
In some states, however, it takes as long as a year to go through the whole foreclosure process, giving some borrowers whose loans reset early in the year a potential chance to use the Senate-proposed version of the FHA program should it become law.