Government's Servicer List Grows to 27

The number of mortgage ""servicers under contract"":http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/transaction-reports/transactions-report_071409.pdf to perform government-sanctioned loan modifications as part of the administration’s Making Home Affordable program has expanded to 27.
The nation's largest lenders - JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, the Bank of America-Countrywide conglomerate, and GMAC - have agreed to provide mortgage modifications under the federal guidelines, as well as specialty subprime servicer Ocwen Financial and a host of other well-known mortgage companies, including several credit unions and a servicer out of Puerto Rico.
Below is the full list of the 27 servicers now performing Making Home Affordable modifications and the incentive payments they are expected to receive from the government for their efforts:
Countrywide Home Loans Servicing - $5,182,840,000
Chase Home Finance - $3,552,000,000
Wells Fargo Bank - $2,410,010,000
CitiMortgage - $1,079,420,000
GMAC Mortgage - $1,017,650,000
Bank of America - $804,440,000
Select Portfolio Servicing - $660,590,000
Wachovia Mortgage, FSB - $634,010,000
Saxon Mortgage Services - $632,040,000
Ocwen Financial Corporation - $553,380,000
Aurora Loan Services - $459,550,000
Wilshire Credit Corporation - $453,130,000
Home Loan Services, Inc. - $447,300,000
National City Bank - $294,980,000
Carrington Mortgage Services - $131,020,000
Nationstar Mortgage - $117,140,000
Green Tree Servicing - $91,010,000
RG Mortgage Corporation - $57,000,000
Bayview Loan Servicing - $44,260,000
Residential Credit Solutions - $19,400,000
CCO Mortgage - $16,520,000
IBM Southeast Employees' FCU - $870,000
First Federal Savings and Loan - $770,000
Wescom Central Credit Union - $540,000
Lake National Bank - $100,000
Technology Credit Union - $70,000
Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage Co. - $30,000
In a footnote to its regular ""transactions report"":http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/transaction-reports/transactions-report_071409.pdf, the Treasury says the incentive caps represent the potential amount to be awarded, and are subject to adjustment based on the ""individual servicer usage for borrower modifications."" In total, the Treasury has estimated $18.66 billion of its $75 billion commitment to the program will be paid out to the 27 contracted servicers for the loan modifications they make.
After receiving a communication from Senate Democrats last month underlining problems homeowners have had reaching their Making Home Affordable servicers, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, along with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, issued their own letter to the companies’ CEOs calling on them to step up the pace of their loan modifications.
The secretaries wrote, ""There is a general need for servicers to devote substantially more resources to this program for it to succeed and achieve the objectives we all share…We are asking that all servicers expand servicing capacity and improve the execution quality of loan modifications in order to help the sizable number of homeowners at risk of foreclosure and eligible for the program. This will require adding more staff than previously planned, expanding call centers beyond their current size, providing an escalation path for borrowers dissatisfied with the service they have received, bolstering training of representatives, developing extra on-line tools, and sending additional mailings to borrowers who may be eligible for the program.""
The letter also states that mortgage servicers should appoint a special liaison officer to work directly with government officials who are overseeing the program. And it asks mortgage servicers to expand their reporting of program results, create stronger operational procedures for delivering assistance, and take part in a ""second look"" audit process to be implemented by Freddie Mac that will ensure eligible applicants are not wrongly denied help.
Companies participating in the Making Home Affordable program are scheduled to meet with the Treasury and HUD later this month to discuss the program's progress and steps that can be taken to eliminate administrative obstacles and improve the program design.
The Treasury plans to begin publicly reporting results of the program with servicer-specific performance measurements by August 4. The purpose of these reports is to provide a transparent and public accounting of individual servicers’ efforts, as well as overall program execution.