""HOPE LoanPort"":http://www.hopeloanportal.org (HLP), a Web-based tool that streamlines home retention applications on behalf of borrowers at risk of foreclosure, recently welcomed nonprofit counseling agencies in Alaska and Kansas to its system.
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Used by housing counselors, housing finance agencies, investors, and major mortgage servicers, HLP now assists struggling homeowners in 49 states and the District of Columbia. HLP hopes to add North Dakota, the only state not currently using the system, ""in the near future.""
HLP is free for use by all HUD-certified and National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program counselors. It allows counselors to submit a full application, including the upload of all homeowner docu-
[COLUMN_BREAK]ments, as well as track clients via real-time status updates from mortgage servicers. Decisions on completed applications are delivered in approximately 30 to 60 days.
""We are looking forward to the improved communication afforded by HOPE LoanPort's technology,"" said Larry Snyder, CEO of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Alaska. ""It will significantly improve the application process for our clients, and I expect all of our counselors to use it for homeowners across the state.""
Counselors are connected to almost 800 users on the mortgage servicing side, representing companies that currently service approximately 80 percent of all mortgages in the United States.
""We started HOPE LoanPort at the end of 2009 with just six counseling organizations and six mortgage servicers,"" said Larry Gilmore, president and CEO of HOPE LoanPort.
""Our user base has grown exponentially since that time,"" Gilmore continued, ""and we believe that our tool provides the most efficient vehicle for faster decisions for struggling homeowners by eliminating lost documents, missing mailed packages, and misplaced faxes often associated with the home retention process.""
HLP now has more than 2,400 nonprofit housing counselors across the country using its tool.