Loan Modifications Run into Trouble in Under a Year
February 18th, 2010 by AustinA Big Push for Little Results
Last year, the federal government pushed lenders very hard to rework deals for thousands of mortgage holders. The drop in home prices almost collapsed the market. The government wanted to do something for homeowners, and came up with the program for loan modification. Lenders were meant to modify mortgages to have lower payments, principles, and/or interest rates if possible in the program. Many homeowners qualified for reductions of 20 percent or more. It looked like good news for borrowers and the economy, too. That said, the Office of Thrift Supervision stated that 40 percent of the income of borrowers receiving a 20 percent reduction in monthly payments, were delinquent again in a year or less. The news follows President Obama’s recent lash of the tongue at the expense of the banking industry, for not doing enough. The high rate of default after the modifications could give the banks justification for proceeding cautiously.
Contributing Problems
One of the main contributing factors to the continued struggle for homeowners is the unemployment rate. When a borrower’s income is cut to near zero because unemployment is now the only income, a 20 percent lower house payment hardly solves all the problems. The strategy would have worked better had the economy recovered as quickly as the feds had hoped. Slow productivity and lost confidence have slowed recovery across the board.
Another factor that hampered the effectiveness of the program was the way banks structured the modification process. Most banks devised a trial modification process which required 3 on time payments during the trial period. Borrowers just couldn’t keep up with the requirements in this economic weather. Additionally, many banks actually raised monthly payments during this trial period. After the 3 month trial period, proof of adequate income was usually the only other criteria which needed to be met to make the modification at the lower monthly payment permanent. It’s not a stretch to see how borrowers, that lost their jobs in the trial period, were denied a solution. In fact, of the 760,000 modifications offered, only 31,000 have been made permanent. Around the same number have voluntarily dropped themselves from the program, and the remainder is yet to be determined. The number of homeowners delinquent or in foreclosure remains at a record high 14 percent. These numbers do not show much success for a 75 billion dollar program.
Not as bad as it used to be
The reality is that the modification program is not a complete failure. What was prevented can’t be easily quantified. Had the program not been created, a lot of people probably would have lost their homes. More recent findings show encouraging trends. Regulators that analyzed April to June of 2009, showed 20 percent of borrowers who had loans modified, missed 2 of every 3 payments. Though it sounds bad, it was 35 percent 3 months before. Combined with a slight up-tick in the jobs market, the news could be looked at as promising.