SIGTARP issues report on Hardest Hit Fund

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

A SIGTARP report on the Troubled Asset Relief Program's Hardest Hit Fund found that a majority of the more than 160,000 people denied funds through the program earned less than $30,000. The Hardest Hit Fund was created in 2010 and provides a temporary safety net to help save the homes of unemployed and underemployed Americans in 19 states in the rust belt, south, and other hard-hit areas of the country, according to SIGTARP's press release.

SIGTARP said it was unable to conclude why denial rates for homeowners making less than $30,000 are so high because state agencies' records were non-existent, missing, or incomplete, a situation SIGTARP said should be immediately remedied. The agency also said state agencies should remove unnecessary restrictions for participation in the program.