HOPE NOW: 45K Proprietary Loan Mods for Homeowners in February

April 3, 2012

Foreclosure Starts & Sales Show Declines from January

WASHINGTON, DC – April 3, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, released its February 2012 loan modification data. An estimated 45,000 homeowners received permanent, affordable loan modifications via proprietary programs from mortgage servicers during the month.

The reported data for February does not include loan modifications completed under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). That data has not yet been reported by United States Department of Treasury for February. Since 2007, approximately 5.33 million permanent solutions have been offered to homeowners nationwide.

The February data also show that foreclosure sales and foreclosure starts both declined from January. For February, there were approximately 69,000 foreclosure sales and 167,000 foreclosure starts. This compares with 79,000 sales and 200,000 starts in January.

Delinquencies of 60 days or more declined from 2.77 million in January to 2.66 million in February, or approximately 5% of all loans.

Faith Schwartz, Executive Director, issued this statement:

“There are many moving parts in the foreclosure prevention process and we anticipate that one month will not define any significant trends. However, one of our key data points showed that we saw a decline in the total number of serious delinquencies – loans that are 60 or more days past due – for February.

HOPE NOW, and its member organizations, continues to work hard on behalf of at-risk homeowners through many different channels. Foreclosure prevention solutions continue to evolve as there are now several options available to borrowers through government programs and as well as private industry ones.

HOPE NOW has been very aggressive in its outreach to homeowners and 2012 has already seen us host almost 7,200 homeowners at events in Charlotte, Miami, Tampa, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Los Angeles. These markets represent some of the hardest hit areas of the country. In April, events are planned for Chicago and Indianapolis.

Additionally, HOPE NOW and its partners have worked hard to execute events for military homeowners. An event was held in San Diego in March and on-base events are already planned for Fort Gordon in Georgia and Fort Jackson in South Carolina for the month of April.

Collaborative efforts between the mortgage industry, non-profit community and other stakeholders continue to evolve. The common goal is to perfect the customer experience and educate homeowners on their alternatives to foreclosure.”

Here are some of the highlights of the February 2012 data:

• Proprietary loan modifications were approximately 45,000, down from 56,000 in January – a decline of 20%.

• Completed foreclosure sales were approximately 69,000, down from 79,000 in January – a decline of 12%.

• Foreclosure starts were approximately 167,000, down from 200,000 in January – a decline of 17%.

• Loan modifications with reduced principal and interest payments accounted for approximately 82% (36,000) of all proprietary modifications.

• Loan modifications with reduced principal and interest payments of 10% or greater accounted for approximately 75% (34,000) of all proprietary modifications.

• Fixed-rate modifications (initial fixed period of 5 years or more) accounted for 90% (40,000) of all proprietary modifications.

• 60+ days delinquencies were 2.66 million, down from 2.77 million in January – a decline of 4%.

HOPE NOW is the industry-created alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, counselors, and other mortgage market participants, brought together by the Financial Services Roundtable, Housing Policy Council and Mortgage Bankers Association, that has developed and is implementing a coordinated plan to help as many homeowners as possible prevent foreclosure and stay in their homes.

For more information go to www.HopeNow.com or call the free Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE™.

Media Contacts:

Brad Dwin
(410) 303-6391