Foreclosure Prevention Program, Fixer Upper Or Turn Key Ready?

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On Thursday the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examined the impact of the Treasury’s foreclosure prevention efforts.  The hearing, “Foreclosure Prevention: Is the Home Affordable Modification Program Preserving Homeownership?”, devoted the majority of time to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has been under fire since being [...]

Coalition Proposes Mortgage Principal Reduction Plan

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This week a group of mortgage investors proposed a principal reduction plan to congress.  This proposal will encourage a new phase in the HAMP program and would also give homeowners the ability and  incentive to pay their mortgage loans.  These proposals are from the Mortgage Investors Coalition, lead by the Fortress Investment Group, a New [...]

FHA Announces Tighter Restrictions On Lending

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This week the Federal Housing Administration announced tighter restrictions will be placed on lending requirements.  This is being done in the hope of reducing risks and strengthening the nations’ financial health.  FHA Commissioner, David Stevens outlined a set of policy changes that will enable the agency to fulfill its mission to provide access to home [...]

Report: HAMP Program Only Making A Dent In Foreclosure Crisis

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A report released this week says the nation’s foreclosure crisis is on the verge of deepening.  This is according to the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, which is made up of 12 state attorneys general and 3 banking regulators.  The group collected data from 13 different mortgage servicers for two years.  This is their fourth [...]

Pending Home Sales Drop, Market Looks Bleak

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The National Association of Realtors’ index on pending home sales dropped by 16% in November.  This is more than three times what economists expected to see.  The pending home sales index showed a decline in every region, 26% in the northeast and mid-west, 15% in the south and 3% in the west. The drop-off was [...]

Unemployed Homeowners Might Receive Assistance

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Advocacy groups are meeting with officials from Housing and Urban Development, the Treasury Department and the White House Economic Council.  These groups hope officials will take part in an existing $75 billion program to help homeowners modify mortgages and implement a program that would help the jobless stay in their homes. Spearheading this program is [...]

Lenders Resist Making Home Affordable

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The Treasury Department announced a total of 31,382 homeowners have received a permanent home loan modification since details of the program were announced in March.  4% of homeowners whose home loans were re-worked through the Making Home Affordable Program  have successfully completed the trial period to receive permanent modifications.  There are currently more than 728,000 [...]

Permanent Loan Modifications Difficult To Achieve

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The Making Home Affordable Program has begun trial modifications for more than 650,000 eligible borrowers since being launched in February.  According to data released by the Treasury Department, 1 in 5 eligible homeowners has enrolled in the program.  Almost 900,000 borrowers have been offered trial modification plans and servicers have distributed over 2 million request [...]

Making Home Affordable?

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A new study out from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston concluded that “lenders expect to recover more from foreclosure than from a modified loan”. The reason?  Only about 30% of homeowners that fall behind on their mortgage payments are able to start paying again without lender intervention.  When loans are modified, 30% to 45% [...]

More Mortgage Woes Ahead

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When the Obama administration established programs in March to help home owners modify mortgage payments or refinance for a lower interest rate, the intent was to curb the foreclosure crisis and keep families in their homes. Now, seven months later, rates are ticking up, programs are expiring and foreclosure numbers are still on the increase. [...]

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