Home Affordable Help Turns 1, Still Crawling

Bendix Anderson
Updated
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C. - where HAMP is administered.
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington, D.C. - where HAMP is administered.

Happy Birthday, HAMP!

As the federal foreclosure mitigation program hits the one-year mark, it's finally helping a significant number of people renegotiate their mortgage payments and stay in their homes.

More than a quarter million people had been approved for permanent home loan modifications through the $75 billion federal Home Affordable Modification Program as of the end of February, according to the U.S. Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

And there's an indirect benefit to a wider group of people who may be worried about the value of their homes: A new wave of home loan foreclosures is the biggest potential threat to the housing market's weak recovery.

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