The U.S. Treasury Department will ultimately disburse less than a quarter of the funding set aside for mortgage programs under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Foreclosure-prevention and other borrower-assistance programs will likely total $12 billion in paid incentives before all is said and done, the CBO projected Monday in its fourth statutory report on TARP transactions.
Though TARP authorized $50 billion for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), only about $710 million had been disbursed to mortgage programs through the end of October. Nearly 520,000 borrowers have received permanent modifications under HAMP, the Obama administration announced in its latest housing scorecard.
In addition to HAMP, some TARP funds have gone toward loss mitigation programs administered by state housing finance agencies and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), such as the FHA's short-refinance program for underwater borrowers.
To read the entire CBO report, click here.
SOURCE: Congressional Budget Office
