Industry Approaches 1M Loan Modifications This Year

About 885,000 borrowers have received permanent loan modifications this year, according to October data from HOPE NOW. The voluntary alliance of mortgage industry participants announced last month that the industry had completed 5 million modifications since 2007.

“With almost a million loan mods completed this year, it is clear that the industry and its partners continue to invest a tremendous amount of resources into assisting homeowners across the country,” said HOPE NOW executive director Faith Schwartz Wednesday with the release of the October data.
The industry completed almost 80,000 modifications in October after completing a little more than 90,000 in September.
Of the 80,000 modifications completed in October, more than 53,000 were proprietary modifications, while 26,102 were completed through HAMP.
Of the year-to-date modification total of 885,000, about 582,000 are proprietary, while 303,426 were completed through HAMP.
About 79 percent of all proprietary loan modifications completed in October included principal and interest payment reductions. On about 74 percent of the loans, the reductions in principal and interest were at least 10 percent.
Additionally, about 86 percent of proprietary modifications completed in October were fixed-rate modifications.
HOPE NOW also reported that foreclosure starts rose during the month of October, while foreclosure sales fell.
Foreclosure starts increased 7 percent, rising from 196,000 in September to 209,000 in October.
Foreclosure sales fell 5 percent over the month from 68,000 to 64,000.
Delinquencies of 60 days or more fell along with foreclosure sales, dropping 6 percent from 2.81 million in September to 2.65 million in October.
While Schwartz credited the industry for its efforts in accomplishing more than 5 million loan modifications since 2007 and its evolving efforts in borrower outreach, she stated, “The work is not done.”
However, HOPE NOW continues to conduct borrower outreach events throughout the nation to assist struggling homeowners.
“HOPE NOW recently wrapped up its 2011 homeowner outreach schedule – including 15 separate events with close to 12,000 attendees. Events are being planned for the first quarter of 2012 in Charlotte, Miami and Tampa, plus several cities to be determined,” Schwartz said.