Thousands of homeowners in Virginia threatened with foreclosure will now be offered some mortgage relief with reduced rate loan modification assistance.  Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell says 8,900 homeowners will get some mortgage relief from the $8.4 billion Countrywide Financial settlement, resulting in nearly $213 million in assistance.

Homeowners who were involved in subprime mortgage loans with balloon payments are eligible for relief with lower rate loan modifications. Hundreds of others who have already lost their homes could also get some compensation.  “Everybody that has been that has been affected by, what we’ve alleged, are deceptive practices by failing to disclose all the terms of the increased payments will be afforded some relief under this agreement,” McDonell says.  Countrywide loss mitigation departments, which are owned by Bank of America, promised to contact eligible borrowers with mortgage relief options.

In a recent article written by Michael Forsy, the President-elect Barack Obama says he will use the remaining $350 billion in funds for the Troubled Asset Relief Program to soften the foreclosure crisis and ease credit markets for businesses and families and to help reduce mortgage loan payments for people facing foreclosure, his top economic adviser Larry Summers said.  Loan modification plans remain a focal point for mortgage relief and Obama continues to persuade lenders to provide negotiated loan modifications that provide payment relief.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Summers said the incoming administration will work with Congress to institute tougher accountability standards for the program, work to overhaul bankruptcy laws, and “impose tough and transparent conditions on firms receiving taxpayer assistance.”   Summers pledged that taxpayer money would only be used “when sufficient private capital cannot be attracted.”  Summers is Obama’s incoming head of the National Economic Council.  Read the original article.