Principal Reduction

What Is a Principal Reduction?

A principal reduction is a decrease in the amount owed on a loan, typically a mortgage. A lender may grant a principal reduction to provide financial relief for a borrower as an alternative to foreclosure on the property.

Principal reductions were relatively common in the years immediately following the 2008 financial crisis when many homeowners across the nation found themselves owing more on their homes than they were worth in a depressed market.

Understanding Principal Reduction

The foreclosure process is devastating for a homeowner, but it is also expensive for a bank. Many homes stood empty for years after the housing market collapse in 2008-2009.

The government-sponsored Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was put in place to alleviate the problem, keep more people in their homes, and prop up the mortgage industry. The program financed loan modifications that reduced the principal of loans, reduced the interest rates paid on them, or extended the terms of the loans to bring them into line with the homeowners' ability to pay.

The program expired in 2016.

The Subprime Crisis

HAMP was aimed at alleviating a widespread problem caused by loose lending standards in the years previous to the financial crisis. Homebuyers were permitted and even encouraged to take out mortgages far larger than their incomes could support on the dubious grounds that they could always sell them as home prices continued to rise. The mortgages were "subprime," meaning the borrowers didn't have very good credit histories.

The lenders then sold those mortgages on to financial institutions which packaged them and resold them as investments in debt. Then the defaults started rolling in. As home prices began to fall, borrowers found themselves "underwater," meaning they owed more on their mortgages than the homes were worth.

The HAMP Solution

HAMP provided a framework that lenders could use for offering principal reductions to those homeowners and to others on the brink of foreclosure.

The Hardest Hit Program was also established during this time to provide aid to homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

Qualifying for a Principal Reduction

One of HAMP's achievements was to provide guidelines for principal reductions that were likely to be successful. That is, they would allow homeowners to stay in their homes while proving less costly to the banks in the long run than evicting their customers.

The guidelines included a net present value test, which helped lenders analyze the cost benefits of providing a borrower with a principal reduction approval. It also detailed eligibility requirements, among which were unpaid principal balances of up to $729,750, and specific debt-to-income ratios.

Principal reduction offers became less common following the expiration of the federal program in 2016. Standards for mortgages also have been considerably stricter.

While HAMP has expired, the Making Home Affordable Program continues to be an initiative of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with a mission of providing support for borrowers with distressed mortgage loans. The program's site is a resource for finding a housing counselor, avoiding scams, and providing information to borrowers in need.