Across the country, millions of Americans have taken the last few years to get caught up on their mortgage payments and reduce rates of delinquency and default in the housing market. However, many more say they're still struggling under the weight of home loan costs they can't afford, and that they haven't been able to receive some help from the federal government they might have otherwise expected.

The Home Affordable Modification Program was initially supposed to help as many as 4 million Americans to obtain changes to their mortgages when homeowners fell significantly behind on payments for reasons outside their control, such as job loss, according to a report from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. However, critics say that the program has been far too restrictive for many struggling owners to even qualify, and as a result, it seems to be falling well short of expectations.

What's the problem for consumers?
In all, only about one-third of the original estimate of 4 million people who might be helped by HAMP have actually received a permanent modification to date, the report said. One of the biggest reasons for this is that most Americans who might have been able to meet the program's standards at the time of its implementation now have significantly improved personal income – thanks in part to the improving economy – and therefore no longer qualify.

Some consumer advocates say that the current income limit (mortgage payments can be no more than 31 percent of gross income for people to qualify) is too high, the report said. But lenders argue that if it were any lower, banks would not have enough incentive to help those owners obtain a reasonable modification.

"It had to be set low enough for borrowers to afford – 31 percent is considered to be a safe qualifying ratio for a new homebuyer," Pete Mills of the Mortgage Bankers Association told the newspaper. "But it also had to be high enough that the cash flow would provide investors a better alternative than going into foreclosure."

Today, however, mortgage affordability remains quite high and this can be a boon to many would-be buyers who want to get into the market. Unfortunately, though, these conditions aren't likely to be around for much longer – thanks to rising home prices and mortgage rates – and lenders may then have to do more to encourage a larger amount of activity going forward.