By Stephanie Armour
Only about 4% of homeowners whose home loans were reworked through a government-led program have successfully completed a trial period required to get permanent modifications—a slow pace of progress that has some now calling for change.
A total of 31,382 homeowners have gotten a permanent home loan modification since details of the program were announced in March, the Treasury Department said Thursday. There are more than 728,000 trial modifications underway.
Trial modifications last for three months before becoming eligible for permanent status; during that time, homeowners must remain current with their payments and submit documentation showing proof of income and that they are owner-occupants.
On Thursday, the Treasury Department released a list of servicers and the number of permanent modifications each has made.
About a quarter of borrowers in trial modifications already are in default again on their mortgages, according to Treasury, which has criticized banks for not doing more to make trial modifications permanent. Servicers have countered that borrowers have frequently failed to provide documentation of income or other paperwork.
Wells Fargo, for example, says that it has 99,674 modifications underway, including trials. Of those that have completed the three-month trial as of Nov. 30, 40% are either ready to convert to a permanent loan, or have converted. But 45% haven’t provided all the necessary documentation.
The remaining borrowers who have made three trial payments were determined to be ineligible for Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications after a review of the documents they submitted.
Mark Zandi at Moody’s Economy.com says the program as structured now won’t do enough to reduce the foreclosure problem. “At best, without substantial changes in the plan, we’ll get (a total) of 500,000 to 750,000 permanent modifications, which is well below what the administration is hoping for.”
The administration hopes the $75 billion plan will help up to 4 million homeowners get more affordable monthly mortgages as servicers rework loans to lower payments.
Last week, the government announced a Dec. 31 deadline to convert about 375,000 borrowers with trial modifications into permanent modifications. They also threatened banks with financial penalties for failing to make progress.
Treasury officials on Thursday said they were on track to meet their goals in the next several years, and added that borrowers who get modifications are saving an average of $550 a month.
But as criticism mounts, efforts have been revived to pass legislation to allow federal judges to cut interest rates, reduce loan balances and lengthen mortgage terms in bankruptcy court. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., head of the House Financial Services Committee, said this week that he’ll back the measure, which will be attached to broader legislation.
Similar legislation failed to get Senate support in the spring.
(c) Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Source: USA TODAY
Publication date: 2009-12-11
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