April 8, 2011 (Shirley Allen)

HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, released its February 2011 loan modification report, which shows approximately 61,000 proprietary loan modifications and 26,147 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications were completed, for an estimated total of 87,000 completed modifications. The total completed modifications were down from 100,000 in January of 2011.

Approximately 49,000 of the proprietary modifications included reduced monthly principal and interest payments, with 36,000 of those by being reduced by more than 10 percent.

Fixed rate loan modifications of 5 years or more dominated the choices available to borrowers with 81 percent (49,000) of all proprietary modifications completed choosing the fixed rate mortgage loan option.

Additionally, the report said there were 180,000 foreclosure starts for the month of February, down from the 204,000 reported in January 2011. The number of foreclosure sales for the month was approximately 73,000, which was virtually unchanged from the month before.

Faith Schwartz, Executive Director, stated, “Despite the numerous issues surrounding the loan servicing industry which have caused some delays in process, servicers and non-profit housing counselors continue to make progress in reaching at-risk homeowners, counseling at-risk homeowners, and offering alternatives to families facing foreclosure.”

The report also revealed that 60+ days delinquencies for the month were 2.78 million, down from 2.95 million in January 2011.

“While we have seen a decline in overall modifications, we are pleased to see the serious delinquencies once again declined in the month of February, consistent with a trend we have seen in earlier months,” added Schwartz.

Tags: HOPE NOW, mortgage servicers, investors, loan modifications, HAMP, principal and interest payments, foreclosure starts, foreclosure sales, at-risk homeowners

Sources:
HOPE NOW