The latest reading on the government-funded loan modification program was the worst ever. But JPMorgan Chase &Â Co.’s banking unit surged forward to become the top producer for the government. However, that didn’t stop the Obama administration from withholding program incentive payments and threatening to permanently reduce incentives already owed to Chase.
There were 735,464 active loan modifications that were completed through the Home Affordable Modification Program by all mortgage servicers as of October. The program is funded through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.
An analysis of data from the Obama administration’s monthly housing report indicates that completed HAMPs increased by just 14,852 from September — the lowest level of activity since the first modification was reported for October 2009. The prior low was 15,522 in August.
In October 2010, active modifications increased by 16,634.
During the first 10 months of this year, an aggregate of 252,122 completed loan modifications have been reported.
The No. 1 spot has been dominated by Bank of America, N.A., for much of the federal program’s life. But BofA slacked off in October, with volume falling to 4,187 completed modifications from 11,838 in September.
Stepping in as No. 1 for the second time in three months was JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. The company saw its active HAMPs rise in October by 6,276 from the previous month’s increase of 5,806.
But Chase — which is headed by Obama’s former choice for favorite banker Jamie Dimon — is in need of substantial improvement under the program, the report said.
“The servicer has a number of outstanding items from previous quarters that have not yet been addressed and play a critical part in their broader execution of the program,” the report stated. “For these reasons, Treasury will withhold servicer incentives from JPMorgan Chase for the third consecutive quarter and will permanently reduce incentives owed to JPMorgan Chase unless the outstanding items are addressed before the next assessment.”
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s, volume tumbled to 1,247 from 4,311 HAMPs completed in September — landing it in the third spot.
OneWest Bank captured the next position with 581, then American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.’s 353 and CitiMortgage Inc.’s 239.
