One year after the Obama administration launched its $75 billion anti-foreclosure program, the housing market remains volatile, loan modifications have been scant, foreclosures are still sky-high — and more and more lawmakers are wondering why the White House hasn’t More…
Only a year ago, hopes were high that a big push by the government to stop foreclosures would be a great success, living up to its billing as “Help for America’s Homeowners.”
Last January started out with a foreclosure moratorium, allowing time for the More…
Ever wonder why loan modifications haven’t become the silver bullet that would solve the foreclosure crisis? Via Patrick.net, USA Today explains in simple terms a phenomenon TWI also has noted, when it comes to loan mods: Borrowers who can’t afford their mortgages and go looking for relief More…
This should come as no surprise: Even the mere mention of the possibility of bringing back cramdown legislation prompted the Mortgage Bankers Association to spring into action. Here’s the group’s rapid response to comments this week from several powerful Democrats, who who threatened to renew efforts to allow More…
As Mike pointed out today, the slow pace of loan modification progress has prompted some lawmakers to once again call for mortgage cramdown legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans and keep borrowers in their homes.
But the Obama administration is signaling clearly that while it may More…
CNN examines the stalled efforts to rework troubled mortgages, noting that only 6 percent of 4 million eligible homeowners have been helped so far under the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program. The piece notes that banks say they are trying to do loan modifications, but need more time More…
The Treasury Department’s report on the progress — or lack of it — among servicers doing loan modifications makes it seem like the Obama administration is keeping a close eye on its Making Home Affordable Program. But Felix Salmon at Reuters takes a second look at Treasury report, More…
Because servicers in the lending industry can make more money collecting delinquency fees on mortgages than by modifying loans, guess which road they are taking? The New York Times says today that the longer borrowers remain behind on their payments, the more money servicers collect, even after the home More…
Even as the Obama administration presses the lending industry to get more mortgage loans modified, the practice of forcing borrowers to sign away their legal rights in order to get their loans reworked is a tactic that some servicers just won’t give up on.
Waivers requiring borrowers to More…
As Mike Lillis reported yesterday, a small group of Senate Democrats is pushing to revive the mortgage loan cramdown idea — a sure sign of frustration as foreclosures continue to pile up. The Senate in April defeated a cramdown proposal, which involves allowing federal judges to modify, or More…
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