Industry Hits A ?Momentous Milestone? for Loan Modifications
Industry Update
October 20, 2016
HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, recently released its August 2016 loan modification data which shows that close to 119,000 homeowners avoided foreclosure and received a mortgage solution.
“As the August HOPE NOW data report indicates, the housing market continues to normalize and move towards pre-crisis levels,” says Eric Selk, Executive Director for HOPE NOW. “We are extremely pleased to see the industry remain committed to preserving homeownership and helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. The mortgage industry hit a momentous milestone in August. Eight million permanent modifications have been reached since 2007. This is a huge accomplishment by the industry and illustrates the continued work that mortgage servicers are doing to assist those in need.”
Total non-foreclosure solutions (the combination of total loan modifications, short sales, deeds in lieu and workout plans) increased 6 percent from July 2016. With approximately 36,000 completed in August, an increase of approximately 11 percent was also seen year-over-year. This total includes modifications completed under both proprietary programs and the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
Of the permanent loan modifications completed, HOPE NOW reports that an estimated 25,000 were through proprietary programs and 10,610 were completed via HAMP.
“As permanent modifications remain steady, homeowners are also receiving more ‘upstream’ solutions,” says Selk. “Solutions such as repayment plans and other retentions options being offered to those with short-term delinquency issues. Our members are not only focused on offering viable solutions for at-risk borrowers, but fulfilling quicker results at the time of delinquency.”
Total permanent modifications completed reached 8 million, and of that number, approximately 6.4 million have been proprietary modifications. The remaining 1,644,427 have been completed via HAMP.
“Serious delinquency still affects more than 1.5 million borrowers – something that everyone should be paying attention to – although this number is close to pre-crisis figures,” says Selk. “As part of an effort to engage more effectively with communities, HOPE NOW continues to host housing roundtables and face-to-face outreach events. Just recently, HOPE NOW hosted its second community roundtable of 2016 in Tampa, Florida (first one in Orange County, California). In partnership with Congresswoman Kathy Castor, HOPE NOW held a roundtable with 50 local housing partners in the Tampa area. Topics of discussion included access to mortgage credit, state of housing, and local assistance programs.”
To view the full report from HOPE NOW, click HERE.
Source: DS News
