Finally, Banks Walk the Walk; Outrun Gov't Talk

The reality of loan modifications is finally coming to be. A great friend successfully renegotiated a large reduction in his mortgage after staying on top of the bank's modification dept. for several months - - unrelentingly! Now, banks appear to finally be catching their stride of preventing much more costly foreclosures by enabling modifications of their own - - even when the reach of our gov't's programs exceed their grasp. More: Surprise! Banks offer more modifications than Obama plan - Aug. 30, 2010 - David

HAMP: Permanent loan mods up 45% | Inman News

Loan modifications are on the rise! This is good news for homeowners and the real estate market as a whole, because it means greater market stability and less foreclosures ahead.

Quoting from the Inman News article, "Borrowers who make their monthy payments on time for a year are eligible to earn up to $1,000 applied to their outstanding mortgage balance." - David

What Mortgage Modifications Say About the Housing Market - CNBC

B of A, a huge mortgage lender, has staffed up its troubled loan team and signalled a greater willingness to grant loan modifications.  But this is off a tiny base, so a relatively small proportion of homeowners needing help have actually received it. Still, it's moving in the right direction.  - David

Is Treasury Admitting Mod Defeat? - CNBC

HAMP, the government's Home Affordability Modification Program, was introduced with great fanfare but has benefitted relatively few borrowers. That's a shame, because a properly designed and adminstered program could have helped a lot of people keep their homes. Now there's a new program, HAFA, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program. It's emergence, and recent comments from Treasury advisors, suggest that the Treasury Dept may be admitting the failure of HAMP, instead endorsing short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure. - David