The San Diego Union Tribune reports today, August 5th, that only a very small fraction of distressed real estate property homeowners have succeeded in having their mortgages modified by the bank.
Only 9% of eligibile homeowners have seen their mortgage payments modified and 10 lenders who are part of the government program have not modified one mortgage.
This is not good news for struggling homeowners who are looking to the banks and lenders to help them modifiy their mortgage instead of selling their home on a short sale or going to foreclosure.
The report cited showed that lenders such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo have lagged behind government expections. Both of these banks have received billions of dollars of government bailout money.
B of A modified just 4% of eligible loans, and Wells Fargo modified 6%. Wachovia, taken over by Wells Fargo, modified 2%.
Distressed homeowners who have received a Notice of Default from the bank must move forward towards a loan modification or their property will be foreclosed. According to Realty Trac, 1.5 million U.S households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in the first half of this year.
The best results among the large loan services came from Saxon Mortgage Services. One in four of Saxon’s eligible borrowers has received a trial loan modification program to help the homeowner avoid foreclosure. For each homeowner who makies regular payments for three months under the trial modification program, the loan servicer collects $1000 from the government.
If you are a homeowner who has received a Notice of Default on your property, contact your loan provider immediately to begin working on a loan modification. If you need help or have questions throughout the loan modification process, please call a real estate agent such as Marilyn Dashe at Century 21 Sea Coast. These agents can walk you through the loan modification process more efficiently, or if the process is not working, can guide you towards a short sale for your property.