20 Jun 10 California Loan Modification Bill SB 1275
According to the LA Times, SB 1275 would prevent lenders from foreclosing on borrowers who are seeking to modify their home mortgages. California Senators Mark Leno and Darrell Steinberg are proposing to extend the same protection to all Californian homeowners making an effort to get a loan modification. The California loan modification bill (SB 1275) would stop a lender or mortgage service company from initiating the foreclosure process until after a mortgage loan modification application was denied. Read the original article online > Are California Loan Modification Plans Working for Lenders?
13 Apr 10 B of A Home Loan Modifications Perform Poorly
Bank of America home loan executives delivered bleak mortgage statistics to Congress recently. According to the Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area, B of A offered less than favorable information with weaker than anticipated mortgage news.
Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Home Loans, is testifying on Capitol Hill today about the housing crisis and the steps B of A is taking to modify troubled mortgages. And she’s painting a bleak picture, according to her prepared testimony.
•1.4 million borrowers, or 10% of the entire B of A residential mortgage portfolio, are more than 60 days delinquent.
•More than 16,000 B of A employees are dedicated to helping troubled borrowers work out a solution with a mortgage refinance or loan modification.
•B o A has taken $10.4 billion in write-downs tied to mortgage loans over the past two years.
“We’re now at a critical point,” Desoer says in prepared testimony. “Many customers are still struggling to make ends meet due to prolonged unemployment, depressed home values, and other economic realities.” Desoer’s testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee is designed to help lawmakers decipher how to improve loan modification programs.
B of A has implemented trial mortgage loan modification programs for about 297,000 home owners so far. About twice that many are eligible under current standards. And Desoer is asking Congress for some improvements to the program to encourage more participation
“There has not been adequate success in getting enough customers to accept the offers and complete the documentation and trial period required to obtain a permanent modification,” she says.
As of June 30, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) had deposits of $1.77 billion in the Triad, placing it fourth in market share with 4.6 %. The company also employs about 2,000 in the region, the majority of which are at a call center in High Point’s Piedmont Centre
30 Mar 10 Obama Expands Home Affordable Modification Program
The Wall Street Journal reported that most the largest mortgage lenders carry hundreds of billions worth of home equity loans on their books. A spokesman for the California Mortgage lender, Nationwide Mortgage said “Most of the second mortgages that are defaulting are from the 100% subprime combo loans, also known as 80-20 loans.” These equity loans had high adjustable rates and many even had large balloon payments.
As home prices have nationally declined by almost 30%, these second mortgage liens are worthless in the case of a foreclosure. Second mortgage loans are usually wiped out completely during a foreclosure if the price has decreased more than 20%. Read the original article online. Many believe that Obama pushes the mortgage bailout agenda rather than correcting the core lending problems. Read the original blog post > HAMP Helping Second Mortgage Lenders?
