Tag Archives: Loan Modification

The industry's shadow inventory of repossessed and soon-to-be repossessed homes that aren't visible as properties for sale has contracted, according to CoreLogic. Analysis released by the company Wednesday shows that the shadow inventory of residential properties as of January 2011 fell to 1.8 million, down from 2.0 million a year earlier. For the first time, CoreLogic also examined how loan modifications and short sales could reduce shadow inventory levels.

Timothy Massad, acting assistant Treasury secretary, said this week that beginning next month Treasury will start publishing a scorecard grading the largest servicers based on their compliance with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Though members of the House voted yesterday to end the program, the Treasury is moving forward with its plans to hold servicers publicly accountable, basing the first report on performance in 2010. Massad says Treasury will withhold financial incentives for unsatisfactory grades.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday evening to end the administration's flagship foreclosure prevention initiative, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The HAMP Termination Act (H.R. 839) was approved with a 252 to 170 vote. Pundits are calling it a largely symbolic vote since the bill is not expected to win as much favor in the Senate, although Republican senators have already introduced their own bill to pull the plug on the federal mod program.

Texas-based special servicer Wingspan Portfolio Advisors recently upgraded its technology with the release of Investor Portal 2.0. The improved Web-based portal provides stakeholders with access to their serviced loans through customizable dashboards. Wingspan SVP E.J. Kite calls the new portal a ""controlled yet flexible tool with a results-oriented approach that brings an entirely new dimension to special servicing.""

Fannie Mae and Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) celebrated the one-year anniversary of Fannie Mae's South Florida Mortgage Help Center on Thursday. Since opening its doors in March 2010, the South Florida Mortgage Help Center has worked with more than 1,000 struggling families with loans owned by Fannie Mae. Of these, more than 64 percent received a retention solution that allowed them to remain in their homes.

CoreLogic introduced its newest technology solution, IntelliMods, to the market Thursday. The company says the new Web-based application will allow users to put more distressed homeowners into modified loans by automating decisions and fulfillment for both government and private investor programs. The system automatically runs the necessary calculations to determine borrowers' loan modification eligibility and provides an audit trail of all decisions.

Wells Fargo & Company will host a workshop in Phoenix for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, Wachovia Mortgage, and Wells Fargo Home Equity customers facing financial hardships. The two-day workshop is March 30 and 31 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center. Nearly 200 home retention team members will be on hand to ensure borrowers receive a decision on a loan modification or other option on site or shortly following the workshop.

The nation's second largest mortgage company says early workouts are central to its game plan for 2011. This ""nip it in the bud"" mindset can be key to getting in front of delinquencies before they turn into lost-cause foreclosures, and Freddie Mac says it's making changes to the way it evaluates the performance of mortgage servicers in order to ensure problem loans are tackled early on and increase the odds of getting borrowers back to performing status. Namely, the GSE is pushing servicers to make contact with homeowners by the third day of delinquency.

After the House passed measures to terminate several federal foreclosure prevention programs, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee stepped in with a measure of his own - a bill that establishes a grant program to fund efforts by state and local governments to provide mediation between homeowners and lenders in order to pursue alternatives to foreclosure. The mediation would postpone sheriff sales of owner-occupied residences until viable options to avert foreclosure have been explored.

With so much attention focused on the House's efforts to stamp out four federal foreclosure programs, a bill making its way through the Senate - which like its House counterpart would effectually terminate the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) - has received less attention but is progressing nonetheless. Pundits insisted such legislation would fall flat in the Senate, but members of the chamber's Banking Committee are pushing their bill forward on the argument that the free market, on its own, is working where government programs are faltering.