Bank of America has announced that it has completed 700,000 mortgage modifications since January 2008, with the completion of about 16,500 modifications in September. More than 12,700 homeowners were assisted through the bank’s proprietary programs last month, bringing the total since January 2008 to more than 614,000.
In addition, nearly 3,700 modifications were completed in September through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), and a total of more than 85,000 HAMP modifications have been completed since the program’s inception last year. In its monthly servicer performance reports, the U.S. Department of the Treasury lists the number of net permanent modifications, subtracting previously completed modifications if the mortgage has been paid off, servicing has been released to another servicer or the customer has fallen 90 days past due since entering into the completed modification agreement.
For Bank of America, nearly 7,000 modifications have been subtracted from monthly reporting for one of these reasons as the loan modifications entered into late last year and in the first half of 2010 begin to age. About 4,700 of the reductions were reported in September and early October, more than offsetting the number of new HAMP modifications completed during the period. As a result, the monthly Treasury report is expected to show 78,905 net permanent modifications still in place for Bank of America customers as of the Oct. 8 reporting deadline, down slightly from 79,859 a month earlier.
“HAMP and our other modification efforts have provided a homeownership lifeline to hundreds of thousands of our customers during the ongoing economic downturn,” said Rebecca Mairone, default servicing executive for Bank of America Home Loans. “For most of them, these modifications are providing a sustainable home retention solution. For others, they have provided a period of stability that is allowing them to sell their homes or find other financing and pay off the modified mortgage. Unfortunately, with the slow economic recovery and continued high rates of unemployment and underemployment, some customers are having difficulty sustaining even reduced payments, and we are and will be working with many of them toward a smooth and dignified transition to alternative housing arrangements in the coming months.”
In addition, the number of loans completed in recent months is reflecting several months of decline in new trial modifications that began in April, when Bank of America implemented a change in the HAMP guidelines requiring full underwriting prior to approval of a trial plan. Previously, trial payment plans were based upon stated financial information, and full underwriting took place prior to approval of the permanent modification.
For more information, visit www.bankofamerica.com.
