The latest Home Affordable Modification Program statistics were announced Monday in a report used to measure the success of federal loan modification programs. The HAMP report indicated that slightly more than 10% of eligible borrowers received a loan modification that became permanent. Yet only one in three homeowners who started in the trial program has been kicked out.  The number of homeowners who have received a permanent federal loan modification rose to 340,459 in May from 295,348 reported in April.  That’s about 11% of 3.2 million HAMP eligible loans.  At the same time, the number of trial loan modification plans continued to fall as borrowers must now provide proof of income prior to any new payment plan. Active trial modifications fell to 467,672 from 637,353 in April. And borrowers who received a mortgage modification under the old rules are now required to prove their income before getting a permanent modification.  An additional 150,000 borrowers who could not prove their income or keep up with the new payments had their modifications canceled in May, bringing the total number of cancellations to 429,696. That’s about 35% of the 1.24 million trial modifications started.

Mortgage relief was extended from Bank of America, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo.  These banks agreed to grant borrowers in the Gulf Coast region mortgage relief on their home loan payments because of the gulf crisis. Freddie Mac forbearance policies allow its servicers to suspend a borrower’s loan payments for up to three months or reduce payments for up to six months. Based on the individual circumstances, borrowers can receive a forbearance for up to 12 months.  Senior vice president of default asset management at Freddie Mac said, “We are instructing our servicers to work with borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages to extend forbearance of mortgage loan payments where appropriate to help them stay in their homes as they navigate through this financial hardship,” said Ingrid Beckles.

BofA is working to develop assistance plans and programs to help its borrowers through the crisis, a spokesperson for BofA said. The bank developed similar loan programs following the hurricanes in 2005 and in other disaster situations in the US. Usually, disasters call for an initial 90-day forbearance of payments for BofA borrowers, and, like Freddie Mac, individuals needing more time will be handled on a case-by-case basis.  BofA is currently analyzing its portfolio of mortgages and loan modifications in the region and assessing the situation to determine what other specific needs may need to be addressed in a disaster assistance program for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

According to a statement from Wells Fargo, the bank extended its borrowers affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill a 90-day foreclosure moratorium.  “We encourage customers affected by the Gulf events (loss of job or income) to reach out to us to discuss loan workout possibilities.  They suggest working with their with our home loan consultants on to determine available home refinance and loan modification options for their homeownership and financial needs.”

Government home loan modification programs are being offered under the HAMP, or Home Affordable Modification Program.  We are told that some borrowers are getting approved for a loan-workout with mortgage rates as low as 2 % for five and even 10 years for qualify homeowners.  Many mortgage lenders are offering 30-year fixed rates at 5% with no points.  No cost mortgage refinancing requires stellar credential though. Both bankers and mortgage counselors agree that if you’re considering a home refinance, do your homework. Check with your current mortgage holder.  We suggest shopping online for the best refinance loan. If you do not qualify then consider a loan modification from an attorney backed loan modification company.

Thousands of borrowers are losing trial loan modification agreements that were installed recently under the HAMP prrogram. The total of distressed homeowners who drop out of President Obama’s loan modification plan soared in April.  According to federal loan modification statistics released last week, over 122,000 homeowners had their trial mortgage loan modification agreement canceled in April, bringing the total to 277,640 since the HAMP program began about a year ago.

Meanwhile, only 68,000 homeowners were converted from the trial modification phase to a permanent loan modification last month.  Under the program, known as HAMP, eligible troubled borrowers are put into trial home loan modifications to determine whether they can keep up with the reduced mortgage payments and to give loan servicers time to verify income and hardship.  A total of 295,348 people have received permanent long-term help under the loan modification plan, but another 3,744 who were converted to permanent status were later cut from the program anyway.  Mortgage refinancing has not been an option for millions of homeowners who have inadequate credit scores or mortgages that are buried under-water with home values less than the mortgage balance.

The latest modification report does not include home equity loan modification details.  Many industry insiders believe the second mortgage foreclosures and defaults could be stemmed if home equity servicers came up with a good modification plan for home equity credit and second mortgage loans.  Many homeowners have used the loan modification to stop the foreclosure proceedings.

In most cases, loan modification agreements are usually canceled if the borrower fails to make the adjusted payments, or if during the trial period, does not meet the program’s criteria or hand in the required income verification paperwork.  Obama admin officials said they were not surprised to see the number of canceled trial mortgage modifications rise because borrowers had been allowed to enroll in the trial program by simply stating their income. Many homeowners are being dropped from HAMP if they cannot prove the income figures they originally provided.  “As those decisions get made, it’s certainly expected that there would be some that fall out of HAMP,” said Phyllis Caldwell, chief of Treasury’s Homeownership Preservation Office.  So far, some 24.6% of trial loan modification options have become permanent, up from 19.8% a month ago.  Some 637,353 troubled borrowers remain in trial mortgage loan modifications, officials said. The pace of people entering the program has slowed as servicers begin implementing new requirements to collect documents at the outset. Read the original article at CNNMoney.com.

With home foreclosures breaking records every quarter, the Obama administration’s program to attack the housing crisis has been a disappointment mortgage lenders report that they continue to struggle getting the required paperwork, while homeowners and housing counselors say processing the mortgage bottleneck appears to be impossible. The $75 billion program has performed so poorly that some housing advocates say the Obama administration needs to reconsider their entire approach on mortgage relief and loan modifications. Mortgage refinance opportunities continue to narrow so loan workouts may be the last hope to prevent foreclosures for these distressed homeowners.

Mortgage loan modifications are, for some homeowners, the only hope they have of keeping their home as unemployment and a slow economy still takes its toll.  Big lenders like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan have the majority of mortgage loans that homeowners are seeking to modify and while the home loan modification numbers for these lenders rose from November to December 2009, many are wondering what will be the story in 2010?  Without home loan modifications, many homeowners’ mortgage loan payment would be too costly as those who, pre-recession, were able to meet payments have seen financial hardships that are causing them to struggle just for the most basic of needs.

However, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan have done a great many home loan modifications, but there is call for more action and modifications to be moved from a trial phase to a permanent phase. The problems in the program and slowness of the transition in permanent home loan modifications have been traced to both lenders and homeowners.  There are stories from homeowners saying they are ignored and passed over for modifications, while lenders have stories of homeowners not filling out paperwork or following the correct procedure to ensure a permanent loan modification. 

With unemployment the next big issue that must be addressed, big lenders like Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo are in a great position to help homeowners, even if some who are given modifications still fail to make payments down the road.  If multiple modifications are made and even just a handful of homes benefit from the home loan mortgage modification then many people believe it would all have been worth it.  Read the original blog post online

According to DataQuick. the worst may be over for California’s hard-hit housing markets, The state’s most affordable markets, which represent 25% of the state’s housing stock, accounted for 34.9% of all home foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter, down from 52% a year earlier.  Nevertheless, mortgage loans were still more likely to go into default in inland areas such as Merced, Stanislaus and Riverside counties, which were ravaged by foreclosures during the downturn. The coastal counties of San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo had the least probability of default.  California loan modification agreements continue to flood the loss mitigation departments of banks across the country.

 

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While many of the loans that went into default were originated in early 2007, the median origination month for last quarter’s defaulted home loans was July 2006, the same month as during the prior three quarters. According to DataQuick, the median origination month a year before was June 2006, so the foreclosure process has moved forward through one month of bad loans during the last 12 months.  “Mid-2006 was clearly the worst of the ‘loans gone wild’ period and it’s taking a long time to work through them,” Walsh said. “We’re also watching foreclosure activity start to move into more established mid-level neighborhoods. Homeowners were able to make their payments longer than homeowners in entry-level neighborhoods, but because of the recession and job losses, that’s changing.”  The mortgage lenders that originated the most loans that went into default last quarter were Countrywide with 5,588, Wells Fargo with 3,482 and Washington Mutual with 3,460. Along with Bank of America (1,760 loans) and World Savings (1,869), they were also the most active lenders in the second half of 2006. Last quarter’s default rate on loans originated in the second half of 2006 ranged from 1.5% for Bank of America to 13.1% for World Savings, according to DataQuick.

On mortgage loans from primary residences, California homeowners were a median five months behind on their mortgage payments when lenders filed notice. The borrowers owed a median $13,510 on a median $325,818 mortgage.  On home equity loans and lines of credit in default, borrowers owed a median $3,939 on a median $62,965 credit line. The amount of the credit line that was actually in use can’t be determined from public records.