The number of proprietary loan modifications completed by the nation’s mortgage servicers declined slightly from December to January according to HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors while foreclosure starts moved higher for the third consecutive month.

Using a three month rolling average, a total of 78,397 homeowners received permanent, proprietary loan modifications in January, down 2.5 percent from the 80,398 loan modifications in December.

Of the proprietary loan modifications completed in January, eighty-five percent (52,113) included reduced monthly principal and interest payments, with 76 percent (48,595) receiving a reduction of more than 10 percent. In addition, eighty-eight percent (55,698) of the loan modifications received fixed interest rate loans of five years or more.

Short sales fell by more than 13 percent from the previous month as a total of 29,244 short sales were completed in January compared to 34,909 in December.

Monthly foreclosure starts continued to climb for the third consecutive month. Foreclosure starts increased by 8.8 percent from December, climbing from 129,139 to 140,482 in January.

Completed foreclosure sales jumped from 49,835 in December to 60,412 in January.

The number of homeowners that were at least 60 days or more past due declined slightly during the month, falling from 2.566 million loans in December to 2.529 million in January.

Tags: HOPE NOW, private sector alliance, mortgage servicers, loan modifications, fixed rate mortgages, delinquencies, proprietary modifications, foreclosure starts, foreclosure sales

Source:
HOPE NOW

Reported by Shirley Allen