By Elizabeth Martinez

Miami, FL- $3 billion in aid to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure in the nation's toughest job markets. This is the new plan the Obama administration has reported.  The treasury department is tapping into resources from the $700-billion Wall Street bailout, and will add $2 billion its Hardest Hit Fund. This will be used for the 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average.  The money will be used for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states already have this type of programs in place. $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.

California will get the largest share of money for the Treasury program, at $476 million. Florida is in line for nearly $239 million. Illinois will receive $166 million and Ohio will receive $149 million, among others.  Officials said they would not have an estimate of how many people would benefit from the programs until next month.

Initially, the Hardest Hit Fund gave $1.5 billion to five hard-hit states: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. The second round in March of $600 million went to North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

The other housing money in the Troubled Asset Relief Program is earmarked for the modification programs ($30.6 billion) and a Federal Housing Administration refinancing program ($11 billion). The administration can shift money between the programs only until Oct. 3, the two-year anniversary of the program.

"Conditions differ dramatically in different parts of the country. The point of the Hardest Hit Fund is to give states flexibility to tailor programs to local needs," said Herbert M. Allison Jr., the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for financial stability. "We know there is a need locally for this funding.... We think it meets a defined need, and we're confident that this is going to be fully utilized."

Since the beginning of this real estate crisis, the government has developed several programs to help out the housing market. Despite their attempts, the housing market seems to be weakening again. The plans to push interest rates down, offer tax credits and set up an ambitious mortgage modification programs have not been enough to solve the problem.

Economist Karl E. Case said "I think all these government programs are helpful, but I wouldn't look for them to cure the recession or even what ails housing."

 "At best, they're preventing things from getting much worse" he said.