Having trouble paying your FHA Mortgage? Great news! You no longer have to be delinquent with your payments to get assistance.

The Federal Housing Administration announced that it will help borrowers before they get behind in their payments, allowing them to maintain a good credit standing.

“The FHA has always required lenders to establish early contact with delinquent borrowers to discuss the reason for missing a payment and to evaluate reinstatement options,” FHA Commissioner David Stevens said in a prepared statement. “Now servicers will have additional options for those borrowers who seek help before they go delinquent, which increases the likelihood that the borrower will be able to retain their home.”

If you can prove your problems resulted from a reduction of income caused by slashed wages, job loss, decline in self-employed business earnings, or even a change in circumstances resulting from a disability or death, the FHA will now provide you with assistance repaying your mortgage.

The first option available is forbearance, where the lender agrees to reduce or postpone payments for a specified period of time. The payments aren’t forgiven, they are simply added to the balance to be paid later in the mortgage term.

The second option is a permanent payment reduction. Reserved for more severe cases, this may involve adding extra time to the length of the loan, possible reduction in the interest rate, or even forgiving a portion of principal. A combination of any or all three are also a possibility.

It’s no secret that many homeowners, both locally and around the country, are feeling the effects of the weakened economy fueled by our current housing crisis, rising costs of living and negative job growth. This current economic climate puts some homeowners behind on their mortgage payments and then ultimately at risk of facing foreclosure and losing their homes.

MSNBC reports that help may be on the way. As some may remember, control of IndyMac bank was taken over by the FDIC a few months back. Well now the FDIC is “experimenting” with a program to help homeowners who have fallen behind and risk losing their home.

The new “Loan Modification” program does not forgive debt. In the case of the family profiled in the story, the interest rate was lowered from 6% to 3% for a 5 year period and increased the term of the loan from 30 years to 40 years. This resulted in reducing the mortgage payment from $3000 to $1700.

According to FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair this program has already helped 5,100 families stay in their homes. Other banks including Bank of America are introducing similar programs.

Check out the full story here…