U.S. mortgage servicers have recently reported hundreds-of-thousands of modifications that have either been solicited, approved or completed. At the center of the modification universe is the Home Affordable Modification program.
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. updated its loan modification notification form to include information about the HAMP (view form online). The revised document also requires information about qualifying income, forbearance, the debt-forgiveness amount and interest rates.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a bulletin to all national banks indicating that under its general risk-based capital rules, HAMP modifications are considered “restructured” and no longer eligible for a 50 percent risk weight. Instead, the risk weight is 100 percent.
A slow start to the HAMP has helped Moody’s Investors Service maintain a more pessimistic forecast for home prices. Still, the ratings agency sees a 10 to 15 percent reduction in losses as result of government programs. Prime jumbo loans could see a more significant impact from HAMP.
In a news release yesterday, Bank of America Corp. said it was mailing letters to borrowers eligible for relief under a massive settlement with state attorneys general last year. The settlement included the creation of the National Homeownership Retention Program where up to 400,000 Countrywide Financial Corp. borrowers will obtain modifications.
Wells Fargo & Co. reported in its second-quarter earnings report that it boosted its loan-modification staff by 54 percent during the first-half 2009. Over at JPMorgan Chase & Co., 27 homeowneship centers have been opened, a news release Tuesday said.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed Arizona House Bill 2143 last week requiring people who process loan modifications in the state to be licensed like loan officers as of July 1, 2010, The Arizona Republic reported last week.
Home Retention Services Inc. has been retained by Freddie Mac to help servicers process thousands of additional applications for the HAMP, according to a press release today. Borrowers will be solicited by letter to call the Stewart Lender Services Inc. subsidiary, which will gather documentation and assess borrower eligibility for modifications or other types of workouts.
American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. reported Wednesday that it is a HAMP participant, and the Treasury has allocated up to $1.3 billion in interest rate subsidies and incentive payments for the servicer’s investors and borrowers. Almost 72 percent of American Home’s modified loans were current at the end of May based on 18 months of data.
The Coppell, Texas-based firm said its servicing portfolio exceeded $102 billion as of June 30.
U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Herbert M. Allison Jr. told the House Committee on Financial Services this week that HAMP contracts have been signed with 31 servicers, bringing industry participation to over 85 percent based on servicing portfolios.
First American Outsourcing and Technology Solutions said on July 14 that its VendorScape platform fully supports the HAMP.
A two-minute step-by-step YouTube video from Freddie Mac shows borrowers which documents they will need when they call their servicers to discuss loan modifications.
