Remember how the housing bailout plan was supposed to help 400,000 homeowners?  Now it looks like they overestimated [or overstated] the number of homeowners who could avail themselves of the program and underestimated the number of homeowners who would: [Thanks L!]

WASHINGTON — The government expects that only 20,000 troubled borrowers will be able to refinance into more affordable home loans by next fall under a new mortgage aid program passed by lawmakers over the summer.

The $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program was launched Oct. 1. Designed by lawmakers eager to respond to the mortgage crisis, the Congressional Budget Office had projected it would let 400,000 troubled homeowners swap risky loans for conventional 30-year fixed-rate loans with lower rates.

But the early results are discouraging: The government received only 42 applications in the program’s first two weeks, according to the Federal Housing Administration. The low turnout was first reported by the industry newsletter Housing Wire. Since the applications take about 60 days to process, no loans have been approved yet.

How did we get from 400,000 down to 20,000?  Where did they come up with 20,000? At the current rate, they can expect to receive 1092 applications in the next year.  This is a three year program.

This program was always more about giving politicians a chance to look like they were doing something than actually doing anything. As far as actually doing anything for the housing market, homeowners or lenders, "Hope for Homeowners" is hopeless.