As a new member to the HAMP club, Litton Loan Servicing LP says its standing is distorted when compared to more tenured brethren.
This week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published performance data about servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program. The program was formally announced in March.
One of the reported statistics was trial modifications as a share of HAMP-eligible 60-day accounts. Of the estimated 3.0 million borrowers who were eligible for the program, HAMP servicers have collectively started trial modifications on 12 percent.
At Litton, trial modifications have only been started on 3 percent — the second-lowest among HAMP servicers with at least 1,000 eligible loans.
But Litton spokeswoman Donna Marie Jendritza said in an interview with MortgageDaily.com that those figures are misleading since the Goldman Sachs & Co. subsidiary only started on the HAMP on Aug. 12.
The Treasury’s report indicated Saxon Mortgage Services Inc., which ranked highest with its 39 percent penetration, became a HAMP servicer on April 13, while No. 2 Nationstar Mortgage LLC started in May.
In a written statement, Jendritza indicated that the Houston-based servicer modified more than 44,000 loans — or 10 percent of its loan portfolio — in the 12 months prior to HAMP’s announcement.
Litton modified over “35,000 loans using terms in accordance with the principles of HAMP” since details of the program emerged in early April, she said. The company is working with the Treasury to convert as many of these as possible to HAMP-eligible.
She noted that approximately 7,000 HAMP modifications have been offered since Litton — which was acquired by Goldman in 2007 from bankrupt C-BASS — joined the HAMP program.
Jendritza said she believes Litton will report a jump in its level of penetration in upcoming reports depending on its success converting pre-HAMP modifications to the program.
