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Making Home Affordable Underway at BofA

""Bank of America"":http://www.bankofamerica.com, which services one out of five mortgages in the United States, announced this week that it has begun processing its first wave of mortgage refinance applications under the U.S. Treasury Department's Making Home Affordable program.
Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Mortgage, Home Equity, and Insurance Services, said that Bank of America is ""proud to be one of the first lenders to take loans from application to closing under the Treasury's plan,"" adding that the program has generated significant interest from borrowers.
According to Desoer, within one month of the program's announcement, nearly 200,000 homeowners contacted Bank of America to determine their eligibility for refinancing.
The Making Home Affordable plan allows homeowners with loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, who are current with their mortgage payments and whose home value is no more than 105 percent of the current mortgage, balance the opportunity to refinance their loans.
Bank of America noted that homeowners who previously could not qualify for a refinance can now take advantage of historically low interest rates thanks to the program's modified guidelines designed to provide increased flexibility, such as expanded criteria for high loan-to-value mortgages; no mortgage insurance required on loans that did not previously carry it; and no minimum credit score requirement.
In its first wave, Bank of America said it will be able to serve the majority of eligible customers - homeowners whose mortgages are serviced by Bank of America or Countrywide and who do not have mortgage insurance on their current loans. The bank said additional borrowers will be included as systems become operational.
Bank of America is also in the process of implementing the loan modification piece of the administration's Making Home Affordable program for both Bank of America and Countrywide borrowers. In the next two weeks, the company expects to begin offering trial modifications under the plan.
In addition, the North Carolina-based bank has extended its voluntary moratorium on the foreclosure of loans that may be eligible for the a federal loan modification until April 30, 2009.