No Hope for Fannie, Freddie Shareholders

For example, there is already an existing loan program called FHA Secure that will help homeowners that got steered into high cost loans with teaser rates. These homeowners get a lifeline if they can't adjust to new, much higher payments. But Adamske said that the FHA Secure loan has limit, in that it can't rework loans that are 60 to 90 days late.

"They tried to deal with this limitation administratively, but ultimately they need a statutory change, and that is what we did with Hope for Homeowners," he says.

The Housing Trust Fund doles out the money it receives from the GSEs as grants to assist in affordable housing issues. The program, estimated at one time to be roughly $500 million, had ambiguous goals, and was viewed by critics as a "slush fund" with very little oversight. It was expected to divert money to community groups like the embattled ACORN, which has come under attack by Republicans in the presidential campaign for allegedly fraudulent get-out-the-vote practices.

The trust fund was originally intended to increase homeownership for low- and very low-income families. Now federal officials are looking at using the fund to provide assistance in rental housing.

The Hope For Homeowners program aims to provide a 30-year fixed income mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure. The mortgage's debt-to-income ratio can't exceed 31% and had to have been originated before 2008, among other guidelines. The existing lender has to agree to release the mortgage and will receive 90% of the home's appraised value.