Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. received the highest grade from the Obama administration for its performance on the Home Affordable Modification Program. But some other servicers are touting their own HAMP performance.
Saxon has started trial HAMP modifications on 44 percent of its 80,477 borrowers who are at least 60 days past due, according to Oct. 31 data released today by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Trial plan offers have been extended by the Fort Worth, Texas-based servicer to 38,327 of its borrowers.
The second-best performer was CitiMortgage Inc., which has started trial modifications on 40 percent of its 221,916 delinquent borrowers. Citi has offered trial plans to 110,796 borrowers.
“It is with great pleasure that I congratulate you on being ranked as the No. 1 commercial bank in the latest Home Affordable Modification Program results,” an internal memo from Citi Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit indicated in October — when it was announced that one-third of Citi’s 208,427 eligible borrowers had started a trial modification as of September.
Yesterday, Pandit issued a statement touting Citi’s standing with its one-third September ratio as “the highest proportion of any major U.S. mortgage servicer.” Around 5,800 people in Missouri are employed by Citigroup Inc.
With trial plans extended to 35 percent of its 65,946 delinquent borrowers, GMACÂ Mortgage Inc. had the third highest rate of trial plans started. Offers were extended to 35,890 of GMAC’s borrowers. As of the end of September, GMAC reported that it had extended 31,720 trial plan offers.
At Aurora Loan Services LLC, one-third of its 74,846 late borrowers had started trial HAMP modifications, while 39,897 offers had been extended.
No. 5 was Nationstar Mortgage LLC, where nearly one-third of its 31,736 delinquent borrowers had begun a trial modification under HAMP. Nationstar has offered 20,110 borrowers trial HAMPs.
On the other side of the spectrum was Franklin Credit Management Corp. — coming in at 0.00 percent — the lowest of any participating servicer with at least 1,000 loans. Franklin, which became a HAMPÂ servicer on Sept. 11, has offered a trial modification to none of its 2,643 eligible borrowers.
MorEquity Inc.’s share of trial modifications was 0.13 percent. Just 123 trial plans have been offered the 2,299 delinquent borrowers at MorEquity — which had a July 17 start date on the program.
HomEq Servicing, which joined HAMP on Aug. 5, rated as the next worst performer, with 0.22 percent of its 40,766 delinquent borrowers having started a trial plan. HomEq has extended just 1,348 trial plan offers.
Bank United has offered none of its 9,045 delinquent borrowers a trial plan, and none of the borrowers have started a trial plan. But Bank United only became an approved HAMP servicer on Oct. 23.
The reported indicated that 71 HAMP servicers have signed participation agreements, while around 2,300 Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-approved servicers are automatically eligible to participate in the program.
Servicers have cumulatively offered 919,965 trial plans through Oct. 31, rising from a cumulative total of 757,955 on Sept. 30. The number of trial modification that have started through last month were 650,994.
HAMP trial modifications on loans owned or managed by Fannie and Freddie rose to 286,000 during September from August’s 202,200, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported. Completed modifications fell for the fourth consecutive month to just 7,104 in July from June’s 8,079 “as servicers moved from traditional loan modifications to participate in HAMP.” Completed modifications were higher, however, than 4,265 in July 2008.
Through July 31, HAMP trial modifications have been started on 131,227 Fannie and Freddie loans.
The Mortgage Bankers Association issued an Oct. 8 announcement applauding the industry’s effort to avoid foreclosures by successfully reaching a milestone 500,000 trial HAMP modifications.
Last month, Wells Fargo & Co. reported 62,989 trial and completed HAMP modifications through Sept. 30. In addition, Wells has done 292,005 trial and completed modifications through its own program.
Today, Wells reported that it completed 93,533 trial HAMP modifications through Oct. 31.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in its earnings report that it had approved more than 262,000 trial HAMP modifications. Nearly nine-in-10 of Chase’s modfications involved a payment reduction.
In an announcement on Oct. 12, Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC took credit for half of trial HAMP modifications that had converted to permanent modifications.
“Almost half of the trial mortgage modifications converted to permanent modifications for distressed homeowners under the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program are attributable to Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC,” the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based firm stated. “Ocwen alone completed 44.6 percent of all of the permanent modifications done by the industry.”
In an announcement about a lawsuit filed against the Ohio attorney general, American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. reported that it had initiated more than 6,800 HAMP modifications, while each “Ohio customer who is potentially HAMP eligible, including borrowers whose loans were in foreclosure, has received a HAMP solicitation letter.”
In today’s Treasury report, American Home Mortgage, which began as a HAMP servicer in July, had started trial modifications on just 4 percent of its 116,742 delinquent borrowers — or 5,082 trials. Just 9,649 trial plans had reportedly been offered.
