A report released on Tuesday by the Congressional Oversight Panel revealed that the Obama administration’s loan modification program will only assist 700,000 out of nearly 4 million struggling homeowners it had intended to assist. Ted Kaufman, chairman of the Oversight Panel said, “It’s not what we were all hoping for, but it is something.”

The Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was launched in 2009 with a commitment of $75 billion to help homeowners who could not afford their hefty mortgage payments. However, now it seems that the Obama administration may allocate only $4 million dollars to the program, a steep drop from the initial intended $75 billion.

The Oversight Panel said, “Absent a dramatic and unexpected increase in HAMP enrollment, many billions of dollars set aside for foreclosure mitigation may well be left unused. As a result, an untold number of borrowers may go without help.”

The housing market in Southern California showed signs of improvement in March with sale prices increasing. It helps that people are rushing to buy before the federal tax incentive expires, that along with low interest rates make it a good time for buyers. The prices of new and pre-owned homes jumped 14% last month, which is a reassuring increase for a market that has faltered so much over the last few years. Though many experts are still mixed on whether this is a sign of the market improving, as many believe that more foreclosures are on the way.

Housing sales are up slightly in Southern California, in Los Angeles County home sales are up 56% from one year ago, but more then half were foreclosure sales. The median price for homes fell to $300,000, which is the main reason so many more homes are selling. The lower prices are drawing the bargain shoppers; many hope this will create a turn around for the faltering market.

The crashing Housing Market is not only affecting Americans all across the nation, but it is starting to take a toll on their pets as well. People who are in the midst of foreclosure often do not think of all of the consequences of losing their home. Many are forced to move from their homes, and as a result, they no longer have a big enough space to care for a pet, or move into a building that do not allow pets. This is causing many pet owners to have to put their pets up for adoption or give them away to shelters. Many pet owners with large dogs can no longer keep them because they don’t have anywhere for them to play and get exercise because they have lost their large yard in which they used to live. It is unfortunate for not only the homeowners, but the poor pets who lose their families. Many animal shelters all over the country have seen an apparent increase in the amount of animals who have been given up during this recent downturn of the housing market. Employees of the animal shelters are hoping that this will not be a ongoing occurrence and that once the housing market makes a turn around that some of the pets will be adopted and taken into loving homes.

The city of Los Angeles, CA is recently struggling more than ever with the housing market and dealing with the sky high foreclosure rate of up to 300 percent. The state of California is supposed to receive up to $1.2 billion in federal housing aid; the amount going to help the Los Angeles region is still unclear. The Los Angeles Housing department states that the housing market is the worst that it has been in years. Once the numbers are released of how much of the funding LA will receive, city councils state that they will immediately begin working on ways in order to help the community with the foreclosure problems.

Governor Mike Easley of North Carolina has recently signed three different bills, all trying to help alleviate the stress and pain of facing foreclosure on your home. The first bill states that lenders of mortgages are now required to provide a notice of foreclosure 45 days prior to filing a foreclosure. The bill also states that the bank commissioner in charge of the mortgage is able extend the foreclosure filing by 30 days if needed. The bill is being passed to hopefully help more people to avoid foreclosure on their homes. According to the Associated Press, Governor Easley states that “Our goal is to help bring borrowers and lenders together so that the family gets to keep their home and the bank does not lose money on the loan”. The second bill has gotten rid of yield rate premiums, which are used to pay the mortgage brokers in order for them to charge higher fees to the consumer. The third bill requires individuals and companies to make any and all reports about a loan to the bank commissioner. All three of these bills are being passed in order for North Carolina homeowners get a hold on their mortgages and help with avoiding foreclosure on their homes at all costs.

It looks like Ed McMahon is in the clear for avoiding foreclosure on his Beverly Hill’s mansion! Big money man Donald Trump has stepped in to save the day by offering to buy the house and graciously lease it to Mr. McMahon. According to the LA Times, Trump does not personally know McMahon, but acted out of the kindness of his own heart because he stated that helping him out “would be an honor”. What a guy!

In Bank of America’s most recent quarterly report, the state with the lowest mortgage portfolio was Florida. In fact, according to other reports, the market in Florida was under-performing compared to other states. In total Bank of America faced a total of $19.9 million in net losses from the Florida mortgage portfolio and also faced the poorest performance from the home equity loans. The nonperforming ratio for B of A’s total home equity loans was 1.52 percent. Florida relies on Bank of America for its second largest banking institution, providing 72 different branches, with $5.6 billion deposits and 17.97 percent market share.

Freddie Mac is now paying their loan servicers double the amount they were previously paying, this is only if the servicers are able to help a homeowner avoid foreclosure. Many critics have thought that the loan servicers were not going the extra mile to workout repayment plans, loan modifications, or short sales because they weren’t being compensated accordingly.

Compensation for each service has now been double by Freddie Mac; loan servicers now receive $2,200 for short sales, loan modifications have been increased to $800, and repayment plans are up to $500. In addition Mac is offering small bonuses for loan servicers who reach out to homeowners in trouble.

The Housing Market in the U.S. lately has everyone on edge and wondering who it will hit next. You can blame it on the economy all together, with people being more reluctant to buy homes and with falling home values, it is almost as if foreclosure is becoming inevitable for many home owners. More and more people are having to file foreclosure on their homes and last month alone in July, the reports of foreclosure filings went up more than 50 percent compared to last year. July hit record numbers, as one in every 464 U.S. households were forced into foreclosure on their home, reports Associated Press. Some states are hit harder than others, with Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan leading with the highest foreclosure rates. Everyone is trying to keep optimistic through it all, hoping that eventually the bad streak will fade away and the housing market in the U.S. will once again be back on track.