It seems Citigroup has taken a page from Hyundai’s book. Just as Hyundai’s “Assurance Plus” program temporarily pays customers’ monthly payments if they recently lost their job, Citi has announced a similar initiative that temporarily lowers their unemployed customers’ monthly mortgage payment:

Under the program, Citigroup will temporarily lower mortgage payments to an average of $500 a month for certain borrowers who have recently lost their jobs and are at least 60 days behind on their mortgage payments. Borrowers will be allowed to make the lower payments for three months. Citigroup will waive interest and penalties during this period.

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Two weeks after President Obama announced his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP), the Treasury has released the guidelines to the loan modification portion of that plan. The initiative is aimed at targeting three to four million “responsible” borrowers who are struggling to stay current on their monthly payments.

“Today, we are providing servicers with the details they need to begin helping eligible borrowers,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in this morning’s press release.

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Our previous post on President Obama’s Housing Affordability and Stability Plan asked “Will only deserving homeowners get help?”. We pointed out, among other things, that the head of the FDIC acknowledges that “it’s not likely aid will be denied to all homeowners who overstated their income or assets”.

A recent editorial in The Wall Street Journal suggested this possibility even more strongly.

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President Obama’s HASP program promises to help “responsible” borrowers with their mortgage. We’ve already recorded our first impressions about the Housing Affordability and Stability Plan. And last week, we wondered: Will only truly deserving homeowners get help?

Today’s Wall Street Journal has the same concerns:

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We’ve already expressed our initial thoughts about the Housing Affordability and Stability Plan announced last week. We also weren’t shy in expressing our unfavorable reaction in the HSH Market Trends newsletter:

We also don’t see anything to like in either of the “incentive” provisions. Paying servicers $1000 per year for up to three years because the borrower made payments on time is ludicrous. Servicers exist to service loans. What additional services will they perform to warrant a bonus?

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While we don’t want to harp on the Tea Party phenomenon, it’s becoming apparent from the new groups forming that there’s a lot of anger and frustration out there — and that it’s manifesting itself in a growing number of public protests.

The latest group, the New American Tea Party, bills itself as “the official Washington, D.C. Tea Party blog.” The group is planning “an event happening on February 27, at 12 pm, permits pending.”

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Perhaps it was inevitable. First, Rick Santelli’s rant last week on CNBC spawned the formation of the American Tea Party.

Now, there’s a new group in town:

The 92 Percent Group is committed to the preservation of free-market economics in the United States, specifically in relation to the Obama Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. We believe this plan is unjust to the vast majority of American taxpayers; in particular to the 92 percent of homeowners who are current on their mortgages.

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Even though details about the mortgage-assistance program announced by President Obama are still sparse, some are questioning how fair the program will be to homeowners who aren’t in trouble — and who will ultimately foot the bill:

The questions found in the letter from Cantor and Boehner to Obama include:

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