Making Home Affordable Program Performance Reports Hint That Problem May Be Mortgage Companies
Servicer Performance Reports for the Making Home Affordable Program have been released on a monthly basis for July, August, September and October of 2009.
Each report contains statistics which show how each company is performing in each area.
One major complaint about the program is that not enough people are being offered trial modifications.
The reports indicate the reason this is happening.
Since the first report was issued in July, we will discount one.
Let's look at the reports for August, September and October and see what the trends are.
Statistics from the Reports Each report estimates how many loans there are where the payments are more than 60 days late.
These are the loans potentially eligible for modifications under the Making Home Affordable Program.
The report also indicates the number of loans where financial information was requested from the people facing foreclosure.
oAs of August the mortgage companies had requested information o 1,883,108 out of the estimated 2,965, 980 loans where people are facing foreclosure.
That is 63.
5% oAs of September the percentage increased to 80.
1%.
They had requested information on 2,484,783 of the estimated 3,100,305 eligible loans.
oAs of October, the percentage increased to 86.
6%.
Information had been requested on 2,484,783 of the 3,100,305 eligible loans.
These percentages clearly show that the mortgage companies are requesting financial information on the loans of people facing foreclosure.
The percentage has risen each month since August.
86.
3% in October is very good.
Each report then shows on how many loans trial loan modifications were offered.
Let's compare these to the number on which information was requested since trial loan modifications would only be offered after the requested information was received and reviewed.
oIn August, trial loan modifications were offered on 571,534 of the 1,883,108 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 30.
3%.
oIn September, trial loan modifications were offered on 757,955 of the 2,484,783 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 30.
5%.
oIn October, trial loan modifications were offered on 919,965 of the 2,776,740 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 33.
1%.
These numbers are shocking.
The percentages are low and there has been minimal improvement in three months.
The last figures we will look at are the number of trial loan modifications started.
We'll compare these to the trial loan modifications offered.
When a trial loan modification is offered, the person to whom it is offered has the right to accept or reject it.
The fact that a trial modification is not accepted immediately does not mean that it is turned down.
The person to whom it is offered may review it with their representative and may want to see if it can be restructured.
oAs of August, trial modifications had been accepted on 360,162 of the 571,534 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 63.
0%.
oAs of September, trial modifications had been accepted on 487,081 of the 757,955 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 64.
3%.
oAs of October, trial modifications had been accepted on 650,971 of the 919,965 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 70.
8%.
These percentages are high and have risen each month.
They clearly indicate that the majority of people being offered trial loan modifications have accepted them.
What Do These Tell Us? The percentages tell us that the people who are facing foreclosure are inquiring about loan modifications and their mortgage companies are requesting them to furnish the information they need to determine whether they qualify.
They also show that the majority of people who are offered trial loan modifications have accepted them.
The main problem is in those instances where information has been requested and a decision has not been made on whether a trial loan modification will be offered.
Why is the percentage here so low and why has it moved so slowly? The mortgage companies would have the public believe that the people from whom they have requested information have not submitted it to them.
Some may be guilty of this.
However, this probably is not as great as they are suggesting it is.
If this were true, the percentage of people inquiring about a loan modification would not be as high as it is.
Most probably the reason is that the mortgage companies have not staffed their departments to handle the volume of requests for loan modifications that they have received.
This is supported by the complaints about the poor service people who have requested modifications have made.
Frequently people have complained about being placed on hold by their mortgage company and not being able to talk to a real person.
Others have complained that they have had to submit the same information over and over again.
Some have said that months go by and they are never advised of the status of their application for a modification.
The people in the Treasury Department who oversee the Making Home Affordable Program need to do a review to see what the real problems are.
If mortgage companies are responsible for the delays, they need to be penalized.
That is the only way the results expected from this program can be realized.
Each report contains statistics which show how each company is performing in each area.
One major complaint about the program is that not enough people are being offered trial modifications.
The reports indicate the reason this is happening.
Since the first report was issued in July, we will discount one.
Let's look at the reports for August, September and October and see what the trends are.
Statistics from the Reports Each report estimates how many loans there are where the payments are more than 60 days late.
These are the loans potentially eligible for modifications under the Making Home Affordable Program.
The report also indicates the number of loans where financial information was requested from the people facing foreclosure.
oAs of August the mortgage companies had requested information o 1,883,108 out of the estimated 2,965, 980 loans where people are facing foreclosure.
That is 63.
5% oAs of September the percentage increased to 80.
1%.
They had requested information on 2,484,783 of the estimated 3,100,305 eligible loans.
oAs of October, the percentage increased to 86.
6%.
Information had been requested on 2,484,783 of the 3,100,305 eligible loans.
These percentages clearly show that the mortgage companies are requesting financial information on the loans of people facing foreclosure.
The percentage has risen each month since August.
86.
3% in October is very good.
Each report then shows on how many loans trial loan modifications were offered.
Let's compare these to the number on which information was requested since trial loan modifications would only be offered after the requested information was received and reviewed.
oIn August, trial loan modifications were offered on 571,534 of the 1,883,108 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 30.
3%.
oIn September, trial loan modifications were offered on 757,955 of the 2,484,783 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 30.
5%.
oIn October, trial loan modifications were offered on 919,965 of the 2,776,740 loans on which information had been requested.
That was 33.
1%.
These numbers are shocking.
The percentages are low and there has been minimal improvement in three months.
The last figures we will look at are the number of trial loan modifications started.
We'll compare these to the trial loan modifications offered.
When a trial loan modification is offered, the person to whom it is offered has the right to accept or reject it.
The fact that a trial modification is not accepted immediately does not mean that it is turned down.
The person to whom it is offered may review it with their representative and may want to see if it can be restructured.
oAs of August, trial modifications had been accepted on 360,162 of the 571,534 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 63.
0%.
oAs of September, trial modifications had been accepted on 487,081 of the 757,955 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 64.
3%.
oAs of October, trial modifications had been accepted on 650,971 of the 919,965 loans on which they had been offered.
That was 70.
8%.
These percentages are high and have risen each month.
They clearly indicate that the majority of people being offered trial loan modifications have accepted them.
What Do These Tell Us? The percentages tell us that the people who are facing foreclosure are inquiring about loan modifications and their mortgage companies are requesting them to furnish the information they need to determine whether they qualify.
They also show that the majority of people who are offered trial loan modifications have accepted them.
The main problem is in those instances where information has been requested and a decision has not been made on whether a trial loan modification will be offered.
Why is the percentage here so low and why has it moved so slowly? The mortgage companies would have the public believe that the people from whom they have requested information have not submitted it to them.
Some may be guilty of this.
However, this probably is not as great as they are suggesting it is.
If this were true, the percentage of people inquiring about a loan modification would not be as high as it is.
Most probably the reason is that the mortgage companies have not staffed their departments to handle the volume of requests for loan modifications that they have received.
This is supported by the complaints about the poor service people who have requested modifications have made.
Frequently people have complained about being placed on hold by their mortgage company and not being able to talk to a real person.
Others have complained that they have had to submit the same information over and over again.
Some have said that months go by and they are never advised of the status of their application for a modification.
The people in the Treasury Department who oversee the Making Home Affordable Program need to do a review to see what the real problems are.
If mortgage companies are responsible for the delays, they need to be penalized.
That is the only way the results expected from this program can be realized.
