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The long and tedious short-sale process just got a little easier for some due to a federal rule change that went into effect on Tuesday.

The U.S. Treasury Department has revamped its short-sale program, known as the , by easing program requirements like income restrictions and documentation standards.

The program was first introduced by the federal government last April as a way to slow down mass foreclosures by making the short sale process – in which the lender accepts a sale of the property for less than the full amount owed – easier to navigate for both lenders and borrowers. The federal government in essence rewards lenders for conducting short sales rather than foreclosures.

But the program’s tight requirements made it hard to find qualified applicants, according to a statement released on the rule changes. Only 661 short sale applications have been processed through the program since its inception, it said.

In order to turn lenders toward short sales in lieu of foreclosures the program has eliminated the requirement that the borrower’s total monthly mortgage payment exceeds a 31 percent debt-to-income ratio. This opens the program to more qualified applicants.

The other major change to the program’s process is that mortgage servicers are now required to provide borrowers with a short sale agreement within 30 days of being requested. A major complaint about the short sale process was that some applications were taking up to a year to process without certainty that the agreement would be accepted.

The rule will stay in effect from now until the end of 2012. For more information on a few other minor rule changes to the program visit the program website, .