Obama Loan Modification Plan Gets Closer to the Goal

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 |

CNN Money reports today that 12% of eligible borrowers have been placed into trial loan modifications, up from just 9% a month ago. This comes from the second progress report issued by the government, which also says that 360,165 homeowners — who were at least two months behind in payments — received assistance through August. The goal of Obama’s Making Home Affordable Loan Modification program is to have 500,000 loan modifications under way by November 1.

The loan modification initiative was announced in February, began accepting applications in April, and is projected to help up to 4 million homeowners. The plan calls for servicers to reduce monthly payments to no more than 31% of a mortgage holder’s pre-tax income.

There are now 47 servicers participating in the program, and, though the performance of the providers has been all over the map, Bloomberg News reports banks are stepping up loan modifications. The administration is releasing monthly servicer performance reports in an effort to hold the institutions responsible for their performance and so the public will be able to see which institutions are lagging. Many borrowers have complained that servicers are not responding to their calls and applications, and that they are denied without explanation.

Even with all the efforts to refinance, the number of people falling behind on their payments continues to mount as unemploument rises.

source: http://www.zillow.com/blog/obama-loan-modification-plan-gets-closer-to-the-goal/2009/09/09/