Stop Foreclosure Answer

I just updated you on the August Status Report which showed how poorly the mortgage companies participating in the Making Home Affordable Modification Program continued to perform.

You may recall that last month there was a post on the initial Status Report on the program through July.  In that I indicated that the work being done by Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial was disgraceful.  You may wonder how they did in August.  Let me tell you right now

Their Performances Continue to Be Disgraceful

Here are the numbers from the August Report:

	Estimated Loans Eligible for Trial Modification	Actual Trial Modifications	Percent
Bank of America	796,487	33,172	7.2%
Ocwen Financial	57,203	4,785	8.4%
Wells Fargo*	366,746	34,984	9.54%

 

*Figures for Wells Fargo include those for Wachovia Mortgage.  The number of estimated loans eligible for Trial Modification for Wells Fargo in the August Report was lower than in the July report.  July’s total was 394,500.  No explanation was given.

All three companies lag far behind the trial modifications which have been offered by J.P.Morgan Chase, CitiMortgage and GMAC.  The initial comments from executives at Bank of America and Wells Fargo were that they were pleased with the significant improvement they had made since the July report was released.  I have yet to see any comments by any executive at Ocwen Financial.

As I indicated in my general post on the August report for this program, trial modifications have only been offered on 12% of the loans eligible for modification.  While the Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial may have improved in August, their efforts in this program are still really bad.  It does not appear that they are making a serious effort to help people facing foreclosure try to save their homes.

If these three companies continue to perform so poorly, you can be sure that they will start to say that the people whom they are trying to help are not cooperating and getting them the information they need to determine if they eligible for a trial modification.  They will also probably say that because of their circumstances many do not qualify for a trial modification.

Both congressman and senators in Washington are already upset that the Making Home Affordable Modification Program has not been successful.  When they see how poorly Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial are handling modifications, they will call for other action to be taken.  One course of action that has been talked about in the past is to require mandatory loan modifications where the mortgage company and the person facing foreclosure have to work out a plan. 

You can be sure that if this occurs, the mortgage companies will scream that there is too much government intervention into their industry.  Yet are they giving our elected officials any choice not to require mandatory loan modifications?

So what do you think your chances are for a loan modification if you are facing foreclosure and if your mortgage company is Bank of America, Wells Fargo or Ocwen Financial?  I would say that they are slim and that you will have to wait a long time.  If you represent yourself, your chance of success drops further.  I suggest you get outside help – someone to represent you.  You need someone in your corner to take on your company and battle to get the best loan modification for you. 

I also suggest that you learn as much as possible about the ways that you can save your home as you can.  One resource available to you is my EBook.  You can find out more about it by clicking Stop Foreclosure.

Much Success,

Mark Elkins