Even supporters say the major component of the administration's effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, has failed to meet expectations.
On Thursday, the House approved a bill killing the $8 billion Federal Housing Agency short-refinance program, which was designed to help homeowners who owe more money on their mortgage than the value of their home.
All four bills passed by the Republican-led House will face action in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and President Obama has promised to veto any effort to end the programs.
Friday's vote was on the Emergency Homeowners Relief Program, which was modeled on the 28-year-old Pennsylvania Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program. State officials say it has rescued more than 45,000 state residents from foreclosure.
The federal program was to be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and offered a declining balance, deferred-payment "bridge loan," with zero interest for up to $50,000 for eligible unemployed homeowners.
In anticipation of the program, a moratorium on sheriff's sales was declared in December after successful lobbying by the Philadelphia Unemployment Project. Its executive director, John Dodds, estimates that 1,200 unemployed homeowners were among those facing sheriff's sales.
HAMP and lender-modification programs do not cover the unemployed.
Bills to end HAMP, as well as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, were passed Wednesday by the financial services panel and will be considered by the House next week.
The stabilization program, which has brought $20 million to the city of Philadelphia, is designed to acquire foreclosed homes in at-risk neighborhoods, rehab them, and sell them to qualified buyers.
Contact real estate writer Alan J. Heavens at 215-854-2472, aheavens@phillynews.com,
or Twitter: @alheavens.
