NFMC Clients Nearly Twice as Likely to Receive Mod, 1.3M Counseled

Through ""National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling"":http://www.nw.org/network/foreclosure/nfmcp/ (NFMC), more than 1.3 million homeowners have received foreclosure prevention counseling by local nonprofits and state housing finance agencies since March 2008, ""NeighborWorks America"":http://www.nw.org/network/index.asp announced Monday.

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So far, the NFMC has also received six appropriations from Congress totaling $619.87 million.

According to a ""report"":http://www.nw.org/network/nfmcp/documents/2012CongressionalReport.pdf, NFMC clients who had their payments modified saved an average of $176 more per month, and those who received help were nearly twice as likely to obtain a modification. Also, at least 67 percent of those who received counseling through NFMC were more likely to remain current on their mortgage 9 months after receiving a loan modification.

Among those NFMC helped, 51 percent of homeowners were women and 20 percent had mortgage rates exceeding 8 percent while the national level for the 30-year mortgage has averaged less than 5 percent since April 2010.

""The program has had a real effect on families,"" said NeighborWorks America CEO Eileen Fitzgerald. ""The average homeowner, who receives NFMC program help saves $2,100 each year after getting her mortgage modified, compared to a homeowner who doesn't work with a NFMC counselor and obtains a mortgage modification.""

The main reported challenge for homeowners was income loss or income reduction. Still, many clients struggled even though they didn't experience a loss of income, with 38 percent of the program clients spending half or more of their income on their monthly mortgage payments and 23 percent spending more than $2,000 on monthly mortgage payments.

The main challenge housing counselors faced when assisting homeowners was slow response times from servicers. The counselors said their greatest challenge continues to be contacting and obtaining a timely response from servicers or engaging them in negotiations.

NeighborWorks America was appointed to administer the NFMC program and distributes the funds to selected organizations, which in turn provide the counseling services.