BofA, Wells Fargo lag in loan mods
Report details performance of loan servicers
By Inman News, Tuesday, August 4, 2009.
Wells Fargo and Bank of America are playing catch-up with other loan servicers in implementing the Making Home Affordable loan modification program, according to the first public report on loan servicer performance from the Treasury Department.
Four major loan servicers -- Saxon Mortgage Services Inc., Aurora Loan Services LLC, GMAC Mortgage Inc., and J.P. Morgan Chase -- have begun trial loan modifications on at least 20 percent of loans they service that are 60 days or more delinquent and eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the report said.
Bank of America, which has the largest number of eligible 60-day-delinquent loans among loan servicers participating in the HAMP program -- 796,000 -- had started trial modifications on only 4 percent of those loans through July, the report said.
Wells Fargo, the third-largest servicer participating in the HAMP program, had initiated trial modifications on 6 percent of the 329,000 60-day-delinquent loans the Treasury Department said were HAMP-eligible.
As a whole, loan servicers participating in the program have started trial modifications on 9 percent of the 2.7 million 60-day-delinquent loans that the Treasury Department has identified as potentially eligible for HAMP, the report said.
Many other loans, including those not yet in default, are also eligible for the HAMP program. But the percentage of trial modifications initiated on 60-day-delinquent loans is a useful metric for comparing the performance of loan servicers, the Treasury Department said.
The performance of loan servicers has been "uneven," the Treasury Department said in a press release announcing the publication of the first in a series of monthly reports.
The Obama administration has asked companies to increase staffing, improve borrower response times and streamline the application process in an effort to implement 500,000 trial modifications by Nov. 1 (see story). ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by Matt Carter on August 4, 2009 - 2:16pm.
Statement from Bank of America Home Loans:
"Bank of America is committed to the success of the Making Home Affordable program and helping homeowners avoid foreclosure whenever a borrower has the ability to make a reasonable mortgage payment and the desire to remain in their home.
The Treasury Department’s initial Servicer Performance Report reflects Bank of America’s recent conversion positioning Making Home Affordable as the centerpiece of our modification efforts. Yet, already, Bank of America accounts for one in every four trial modification offers extended through the entire program – the leading indicator for homeowners that will ultimately enter the trial modification program and be eligible for final modifications.
Importantly, this report is not intended to capture each servicer’s progress outside of MHA in stemming the tide of foreclosures. In the first half of 2009, Bank of America completed 150,000 modifications through our own programs as we ramped up to make MHA operational. These 150,000 homeowners were at serious risk of foreclosure, but today remain in their homes with an affordable mortgage payment. These additional programs are essential to address the myriad of complex issues homeowners face.
Despite our aggressive efforts to find solutions for homeowners in default, we must improve our processes for reaching those in need. Additionally, we continue to work with Treasury to find solutions for at-risk homeowners who fall outside the eligibility requirements of the current program as well as the growing number of customers now unemployed.
Bank of America has not proceeded with foreclosure sales for customers with whom we have established contact that may be eligible for a modification under Making Home Affordable or our other modification programs."
-- Barbara Desoer, President, Bank of America Home Loans
Related Facts
• Bank of America has more than 7,500 associates dedicated to home retention. This team has nearly doubled since this time last year.
• Under Making Home Affordable Bank of America has …
• Extended nearly 100,000 trial modifications to our customers
• Extended the second highest number of trial modifications (28,000)
• Extended 25% of industry trial plan offers
• More than 72,000 trial offers pending (about 42% of all pending trial mod offers from the industry)
• Extended more than 260,000 solicitations for financial information to potentially HAMP eligible customers -- about 19% of all solicitations that have been sent by the industry
Submitted by P Foreclosure on August 4, 2009 - 9:28pm.
The ultimate truth is that banks are not moving fast enough. Homeowners must be champions of their own war to save their homes. Homeowners need persistence and a step-by-step process to a successful loan modification: http://preventingforeclosure.org/2008/10/how-to-modify-a-home-loan/