Ways to reduce your mortgage payment

First, there is always the option of making extra payments toward principal yourself.  But don't fall for some businesses that promise results by paying them...Just make the same payment to your loan servicer and ask them to apply the extra amount immediately.

Next, you can ask your lender if they can "recast" your loan.  In this fashion, for a small fee with your current lender/servicer, you can ask for a lower monthly payment without extra closing or appraisal costs.

Also, apparently recent changes in banking regulations have severely restricted lender who use prepayment penalties...but ask anyway.

Source:  WSJ 10-2/3-2010, B8

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Some online mortgage calculators

I found these on the web through different source and I am not sure how much use they will b or the simplest or you to use, but don't feel obligated to use any services advertised on this website.

US Government mortgage calculator from Ginnie Mae - http://www.ginniemae.gov/2_prequal/intro_questions.asp?section=YPTH.

Simple mortgage calculator from Kim Komando: http://amortizationloancalculator.net/index.php

Various mortgage calculators -  http://www.calculators4mortgages.com/
Determination to refinance an existing mortgage - http://www.bills.com/calculator-mortgage/

Domania.com offers calculators an recent home sales in your neighborhood - http://www.domania.com/Calculator/default.aspx

Helpful tips and mortgage calculator - http://www.mtgprofessor.com/home.aspx

Lending tree (careful - you may get alot of ads) - http://www.lendingtree.com/mortgage-loans/calculators/loan-payment-calculator/

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Your FICO score may drop without you doing a thing!

Even if you're on time with your payments on everything, your FICO credit score may suffer.

If the bank arbitrarily drops your available line of credit on your bank credit card, your credit score may take a hit for sudden change in balance.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) wants to pressure Fair Issac to change this policy.

NAR also is requesting Fair Issac consider the impact on credit scores of homeowners who had received loan modifications approved under federally backed programs like HAMP.  Currently they treat them harshly as if the mortgage wasn't paid as originally agreed - this means a deeper drop in score.

Source:  http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20101121-7,0,6076482.story

Bottom line:  What can you do about it?  Write to the Fair Issac Company; write your congressional Representatives, or sit on your butt and continue to do nothing as usual.

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Georgia Residential Mortgage Act (GRMA) fee at closing

For a number of years, there was a little noticed fee on each closing statement (HUD-1) in Georgia. A $6.50 fee was charged for each new loan on a property.

You an see why the fee doesn't raise any interest because you normally focus on alot higher charges in closings and the fee goes to cover the costs for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (click here for GDBF website) to develop and administer rules and regulations, licensing and registration requirements, review of applications by prospective mortgage lenders in Georgia, and the review and enforcement of statues.

So why mention it? - That fee has now been raised to $10 (see form and notice of increase here). I hate it when fees are raised and no discussion is provided for the increase. Is this fee adequate to cover legitimate expenses? Does the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance deserve the fee? Do we have a "taxation without representation" situation here?

NOTE: When I called last year to mention the possibility of filing a complaint on a lender, they told me their budget was cut and didn't have money to investigate any more complaints...

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Atlanta Regional Commission - Fact, fiction or do they matter at all?

This post may be updated from time to time - depending on the importance of this commission.

According to Charles Krauter (ARC Director), the "PLAN 2040" (whatever anyone knows about 30 years from now...) is based on 2 requirements - A federal requirement to perform a long range transportation plan every six (6) years and a Georgia state requirement from the Department of Community Affairs to perform a regional development plan every 5 years (in other words, they are planning to plan).

This may be the first time the ARC is developing a comprehensive plan (oh yeah, what have they been doing so far - pocket pool?).  How much have the citizens of Georgia spent on the ARC and how many "solutions" have they presented to solve "real" problems.

ARC estimates that the 20 county metro Atlanta area will grow by 3 million people totalling about 8.3 m million.

The ARC outlines some challenges for the area like availability of water, aging population, 75% of the population have no other option to drive to other destinations, and the area needs more funds and better management of those funds.

Bottom line:  Watch out for the ARC to come to the conclusion we need to build more rail transportation...but between which two cities and who will profit from this construction?

Source:  Atlanta Business Chronicle, 11-5 thru 11, 2010, Page 4A.

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Are you or your remodelers "lead safe certified" to handle lead based paint?

6-14-2011:  EPAs website for more details about Lead Based Paint - http://www.epa.gov/ne/enforcement/leadpaint/index.html

Also, a little insight from John Adams, Real Estate Advisor about the final implementation date of 4-22-2010 and other effective dates. - http://money99.com/content/view/516/67/

Per the 3-27/28-2010 WSJ, Page A6, based on a regulation taking effect on 4-22-2010, if you hire a remodeler of a home built in 1978 or prior, they must be federally certified to handle lead based paint removal. Otherwise, your contractor (and maybe you based on your written contract with the contractor) will face a $37,000 daily fine. No waivers will be issued anymore to homeowners who verify there are no pregnant women or children under 6 years old - they closed that loophole.

And as you can guess, the federal government hasn't certified more than 135 businesses and less than 14,000 individuals of the nearly 212,000 firms and 236,000 individual contractors the EPA has estimated that are needed. There haven't been many training providers (job creation?) accredited to train the hundreds of thousand of contractors.

Can we call a South Park shenanigans yet?

Does this mean if you do it yourself, you don't have to be certified?

Does this mean more people will perform the remodeling work themselves and not hire a professional?

Does this mean work will come to a screeching halt because of the $37,000 daily fines of contractors who aren't certified?

6-14-2011 Note:  After April 22, 2010, property owners who perform these projects in pre-1978 rental housing or space rented by child-care facilities must be certified and must follow the lead-safe work practices required by EPA's Renovation, Repair and Remodeling rule. http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
 
References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Some homeowners stop paying mortgages - and stay in homes!

Yesterday: "You don't pay...You don't stay!

Today: "Don't pay, stay, and see what happens!"

You have a 1 in 5 chance of being kicked out of your house for non payment of your mortgage...

This NY Times article really blows the traditional lid off what you think of traditional foreclosures.

This is a quote from the article: "More than 650,000 households had not paid in 18 months, LPS calculated earlier this year. With 19 percent of those homes, the lender had not even begun to take action to repossess the property..."

This may not be the most moral approach since the homebuyer agreed to pay one amount, but is now paying another amount or not at all, well...it amounts to fraud...in this case by the homeowners!

I can empathize if there is a major change in medical, employment, or income status - but even with the IRS forgiveness of the 1099 taxable income, the lender still has a note from the homeowner promising to pay.

Hence, this presents another "moral (fairness) hazard" (in addition to bailing out people who have overextended themselves to purchase a house) that once the homeowners who "are" paying their mortgages hear this, they will also say "why should I be paying my mortgage if others don't pay theirs and get to stay?".

Oh and I heard the other day that banks are now selling their deficiency judgments to debt collectors who will be hounding the homeowner for years down the road. Is this the kind of job growth that was promised over a year ago?

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

High Speed Rail - News and Projects

I know this doesn't directly relate to real estate, but the location of the rail lines will impact local real estate values.  Some property sellers will make some money...look at Sonny Perdue's gains after the recent Georgia interstate meandering through his property.

But my main concern is the wasteful spending by US Congress.  They are planning to spend $2.4 billion (of the $8 billion Pres. Obama set aside last year) in grants to study 54 high speed rail projects in 23 states ($4.1 to study rail transit between Atlanta and Charlotte).  The Federal Railroad Administration received 132 applications from 32 states.

I'm sorry, but let's just consider rail systems between two highly concentrated populations in which the termination points are within close proximity to residential and commercial workplaces.  In other words, why do I take a train to take a couple of buses to my final destination?  How much does it cost to move the person on a train, to other ground transportation, to their final destination?  And just because Europe and the rest of the world has high speed rail, look at their cultures and costs.  I bet they use it due to their limited geographic space (i.e., Japan) and low GDP (Pakistan/India).

Bottom line:  Pork and spreading the taxpayer's wealth!

Source of information:  Atlanta Business Chronicle - November 5-11, 2010, 25A

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Deficit Reduction Panel and Realtor Organizations

I think alot of real estate lobbyist groups ( a whole bunch of them) are going to pummel the doors of Congress to try and stop any hint of eliminating this deduction (as they have done so often before).

That's why I don't belong to any of them - they lobby Congress for stuff in "their" best interests.

If we enacted the Fair Tax and eliminated the need for income tax deductions, there would no longer be the false incentive to buy a house "to get the mortgage interest and property tax deductions" that I have heard some other agents profess is a golden goose reason to buy a house.  Sure, it's a side benefit of owning a home, but it shouldn't be so important.  Flexibility to resell, location, home that fits your lifestyle, and well within your budget should be much more important factors.

What I understand is that the plans were to combine the elimination of the mortgage deduction with a corresponding reduction of tax rate....which may in effect wash itself out.

But mark my words, there will be agents and brokers and heads of realtor associations whining about this for weeks to come.

Ah, the smell of stupidity....

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Private Transfer Fees

Definition:  A fee charged (normally 1% of sales price) for a period of years (usually 99) each time ownership of a real property is transferred.  Sometimes it's paid to homeowner's association for maintenance or capital improvements (roads, entrance, pools, tennis courts, clubhouse, etc,.).  Other times it's paid to the developer of a residential subdivision to be applied toward the developer's costs of creating the subdivision including grading, subdividing, roads, common area amenities, sewers, utility (street water, sewer, and electrical lines), and coordination with local businesses and code department to comply with codes and ordinances, and profit.

Many times, the developer's cost of developing the subdivision is included in the cost of each lot charged to builders who purchase the lots and build houses on them.

About 20 states have laws regulating the fees and a bill is in US Congress which calls for the prohibition of the fees.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is proposing a regulation top prohibit Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac from buying mortgages on real properties that has these fees.  FHFA believes that the fees lower equity, depress home prices, and add a complicated the legal transfer of real estate.

Source: WSJ, 11-5-2010 C11

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

HOA Reserve Fund or Special Assessment - Pick your poison

Homebuyer/homeowner Beware!

If there is a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) for a property you plan to purchase, there normally will be monthly/annual dues you will pay in addition to your mortgage. Be sure you inspect the financial stability of the HOA's budget and its reserve fund. In this economy, many homeowners are refusing to pay their homeowner's dues.

Every HOA has costs. In addition to the front subdivision entrance area and monument, if there are facilities like a pool, tennis court(s), clubhouse, playground, etc, there are costs to insure and maintain them. The standard approach is to collect monthly/annual dues from homeowners to pay for all these and other necessary expenditures. A portion of your HOA fees/dues may be in excess of current planned annual expenses and placed in the bank as “reserve funds” to be used for major or unexpected repair and replacement of facilities/amenities.

If the HOA does not have enough funds to pay for the extras like relining the pool, resurfacing the tennis court, or re-roofing the clubhouse (which all could cost several thousands more than normal expenditures), then depending on the HOA CCR’s (Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions – i.e., HOA rules/regulations) the HOA needs to get the funds one of two ways:

(a) PAY NOW - Charge each house in subdivision a flat one-time fee (i.e., special assessment) to cover their share of expenses, or

(b) PAY LATER - Increase the annual HOA fee by an amount equal to finance the expenditure over a period of time.

Underwriters of many condominium loans (FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac) may require a reserve study and proof that at least a minimum percentage of the annual budget is placed in reserve or may not get financing for the HOA expenditures.

The HOA can have a reserve study performed by a qualified reserve study provider. Members of Association of Professional Reserve Analysts.

Note:   Special assessments are the results of poor planning

Here is a good article on Homeowner's Associations

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Can we make serious mortgage foreclosure violations punishable by death?

I love the state/federal governments in this country...they complain of "serious errors and procedure violations" yet can't find any major errors...then in the same breath, they want foreclosures to start moving again - Here's an idea -  Get the h*** out of the way, stop making just the lawyers profit from multiple generic lawsuits, and investigate only those calls into your state offices! ...Oh, and make serious mortgage company violations punishable by death with choice of termination method by displaced homeowner!

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS)

7-28-2011:  MERS is out of the mortgage foreclosure business?  Maybe not for long...Just transfer into another lender name...then foreclose! Source:  http://www.dsnews.com/articles/mers-bows-out-of-foreclosure-and-bankruptcy-proceedings-2011-07-27

6-7-2011:Hard to believe these numbers $60-120 Billion in unpaid property recording fees alone?  Either California has excessive fees or they are suffering from PMS...Phuzzy Math Syndrome! Source:  http://realestate.bryanellis.com/4581/untangling-the-mers-mess-part-2/

6-6-2011:  Oregon, like Georgia, is a non-judicial foreclosure state meaning the bank/lending institution doesn't need to go to court to foreclose, however, a Federal Oregon judge just ruled the state requires banks to record the ownership history of the mortgage with local county governments and not loud the chain of title using MERS. The Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) was created by the mortgage industry (including consensus by the Federal Government through Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac sanction) in the 1990s to record mortgages under "MERS" ownership but that got bundled and resold as securities.  However, MERS is under investigation for lots of property records that not only hid identity of current mortgage holder, but avoided recording fee revenue for local governments.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/05/26/oregon-judge-denies-foreclosure-challenges-mers/

5-10-2011:  Court cases involving MERS (founded in mid 90 by Fannie, Freddie and some large US banks) - retains control over about 60 million mortgage loans with respect to foreclosure action - think of how much money they save (and local governments lose) when MERS doesn't need to pay mortgage filing fees more than once.

Source:  http://hken.ibtimes.com/articles/143315/20110510/california-court-mortgage-foreclosure-new-york-times.htm

Update 1-3-2011:  Shell game of MERS - See 12-15-2010 House Judiciary Subcommittee - http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ForeclosureC

MERS, out of Reston VA, serves as a stand alone "place holder" of mortgage loans in the United States.It was created jointly almost 13 years ago between large banks, financial institutions, and Fannie/Freddie to expedite the process of recording change in ownership of mortgage loans.  Normally, each time a mortgage changes ownership, the change in ownership must be recorded in the public records of where the real property is located.  Each change in ownership is normally accompanied by a charge by the county to record the fee that covers the cost to maintain and record records in the system.  MERS currently controls about 65 million home loans.

Since several state budgets are tapped out and looking for new sources of revenue, this provides an "opportunity" for states to get some extra revenues by filing lawsuits (Nevada and California already) challenging MERS ability to actually have the authority to foreclose on a property and attempting to collect a fee for each change in ownership on a loan during MERS control.  Virginia AG is investigating whether MERS should have paid a fee each time the loan changed hands.

A Georgia attorney is trying to get MERS foreclosures nullified and properties returned to former homeowners.

Sources:  Atlanta Business Chronicle November 5-11, 2010 - 4A - WSJ 11-2-2010, C1

Note:  Remember my post earlier this year regarding the inability of Lender Processing Services (LPS) to identify the actual owner of the mortgage?  I smell a connection between LPS and MERS....

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Should we privatize the mortgage market?

About 90% of today's $14 Trillion in mortgage loans are controlled by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That's alot of risk concentrated on one source - the US taxpayers!

Even though the private market couldn't compete with government guarantees, or offer loans without a prepayment penalty, we certainly don't want to leave the taxpayer on the hook.

One step toward privatization suggested was to reduce the maximum amount of mortgage loan by $75,000 on a periodic basis which eventually would force more people out of the government loan and into a private loan.

Full disclosures - consumer protections - and reducing taxpayer exposure are goals.

Recourse -The right to seize the home owner's other personal assets, in addition to the real property, in payment of the loan. Proposals include using recourse to drive rates lower if borrower is willing to accept more risk to give up their personal assets

Note: Government National Mortgage Association - Ginnie Mae - securitizes the FHA loans now.

Source: For some information was WSJ 10-25-2010, A17

Also, if you want to watch a good summary of securitization analysis - here's a Cspan video library segment - but grab a pot of coffee - http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/296226-1

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Does crime really pay?

The MDJ article on page 5B of the 6-24-2010 issue reports that 1,300 inmates in prison filed for a total of $9 million under the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.

It was reported that 14,100 tax filers wrongly received about $27 million in tax credits. Apparently, this number doesn't include the people who filed and received the tax credit in 2009 that never bought homes. (I wonder how much of that we'll recover?)

• One home was used more than 65 times to get the same credit.

• Some even got the credit for sales "prior to" the start of the effective date.

Total claims filed amounted to almost $19 Billion.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that about 1 million new homes were sold that probably wouldn't have if the tax credit wasn't available. (Don't really know how they got those figures. I would imagine that most would be sold anyway, just later in the year and not before the 4-30-2010 contract cutoff date.)

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Alternative to Foreclosure - Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure & Short Sales

Update 10-11-2011:  According to this FICO study, there's is little difference between foreclosure and short sale when it comes to a hit on your credit score, but shorter refresh period with short sales (about 3 years) than foreclosure (about 7 years).  Source:  http://massrealestatenews.com/credit-scoring-impacts-short-sale-vs-foreclosure/

It was sad to see a young couple with two children down the street from me that weren't able to sell their house on a short sale, so they wound up taking this action: Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.

A Deed in lieu of foreclosure is a special deed that the homeowner/borrower uses to transfer ownership in a residential property (e.g., primary residence) to the mortgagee/lender to eliminate a loan that is in default (i.e., behind on payments) and thereby avoids a foreclosure.

Some reported advantages are: see wikipedia discussion here.

It immediately releases borrower from some portion (which means a possible deficiency judgment) or the entire mortgage and may be less impact as a foreclosure.

NOTE: I am trying to noodle this out and I'm not sure how this deficiency plays out, but I would recommend somewhere in the documentation that you sign in the DIL process would need to have the lender's agreement to "waive" their pursuit of a deficiency judgment.

Your lender is required to report a deficiency from a foreclosure or short sale to the IRS for tax purposes - so I assume this would be true if the lender also forgave a small portion of the loan under Deed in Lieu action. The lender sends you 1099A Form which reflects that the deficiency has "not" been forgiven/cancelled and the lender "can" come after you in future to collect the debt.

If the lender forgives the debt, you'll receive a Form 1099C. It suggests that the remainder of the debt has been cancelled and the lender will not come after you to collect the debt.

For income tax purposes in 2010, in both cases of the 1099A and 1099C Forms, I believe the "forgiveness" of these debts will need to be reported as income, but will subsequently be exempted from Income Taxes (per HR 3648 - the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, 2007).

Other benefits may include:

• Avoids the public (published in newspaper of record) notice of foreclosure situation;

• The borrower may get more generous terms than he/she would in a formal foreclosure.

• It probably will hurt the borrower's credit score and future ability to obtain credit (possibly more or less than a foreclosure);

• Advantages to a lender include a reduction in the time and cost of a repossession, lower risk of borrower revenge (theft and vandalism of the property before sheriff eviction), and additional advantages if the borrower subsequently files for bankruptcy.
I would think some disadvantages would be:

• It may not apply if you have more than one loan on the property.

• Negative impact on your credit score - perhaps worse than 120-150 points that foreclosures and short sales impact your credit score and maybe less than the 300-350 point drop in your credit score from a Bankruptcy.  (See this article for impact - http://www.ehow.com/about_7446137_effect-foreclosure-credit-rating.html)

• Losing a property in which you may have some equity but just couldn't afford to continue the payment.

• You may first be required to try to sell the property (as a short sale) for 60-90 days which often wastes your time, but delays the inevitable, since you may not receive an offer high enough to pay off the loan balance(s).

See a summary of advantages and disadvantages of Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure at http://www.nolo.com/

or

Here at the HUD (Housing & Urban Development) website

Both the borrower (by voluntary action) and the lender have to agree on all terms. If possible, the written agreement must have total consideration (appraisal/fair market value of the property plus potential cash payment by borrower, if cash is available) at least equal to the loan balance. Otherwise, there will be loan forgiveness involved.

Before considering this action, please consult with a real estate attorney about the process and consequences.

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

Credit Unions - Sam's Club - will they be lending more to businesses?

This doesn't necessarily relate to residential real estate, but perhaps to commercial real estate and all business owners, regardless of where they operate their businesses - residential or non-residential locations.

HR 3380 (Promoting Lending to America's Small Businesses Act) proposed that credit unions may double (from 12.5% to 25% of its capital) the amount of funds available to lend to businesses. Credit unions may also be able to provide other services like business checking and business credit cards.

This really ticks off the commercial banks who traditionally lend to businesses….Obviously, it’s competition (duh!).

Side note: Our credit union just went video – the new branch they moved to, with respect to security, has a video screen to chat with teller and air tube system that transports your transaction to another part of the facility…There is no human contact with the teller, just through a video screen an camera…maybe they can offer a video game or cartoon too.

Article on Page 4B of July 7, 2010 of Marietta Daily Journal (MDJ), Sam's Club is now partnering with Superior Financial Group to make loans from $5,000 to $25,000 to small business members. Even with the small dollar amounts involved, I would suspect the Commercial Financial institutions will object to this and lobby against it.

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.

So how's HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) working out for you now?

4-15-2011:  Only about 25% of 2.7 million homeowners (opposed to the 3-4 million promised to be modified) have received permanent modifications, but we're not sure how many of that 25% have redefaulted. Source:  http://www.365days365plays.com/365-days-365-plays/7048

4-15-2011: HAMP was established with goal of mortgage relief for 3-4 million homeowners; 75% of homeowners receiving permanent modifications are expected to redefault (no wonder since debt-to-income ratios are about 63%); recent investigations revealed that 7% of 3 million homeowner applications through the five major loan servicers received permanent HAMP modifications; and $2 Billion has been allocated for US Treasury's Hardest Hit fund to help homeowners (some up to 12 months or $15K one time assistance such as in Alabama). Another $1 Billion HUD program will provide non-recourse loan(i.e., a percentage will be forgiven each year for x # of years)up to $50K to "distressed homeowners" in "targeted communities". Source: WSJ, 8-25-2010, A15.

3-1-2011:  About 25% (680,0000/2,700,000) of homeowners applying for HAMP (started in 2009) have received loan modifications.  WSJ 2-28-2011, A4.

NOTE:  Approximately 6.7 million homes were foreclosed between 2000 and 2010.

1-15-2011:  Only 170,000 of the 1.1 million homeowners who started the program have completed the loan modification.

11-20-2010:  Over 50% of the 1.4 million applicants for HAMP that were approved for temporary modifications didn't qualify for permanent modifications.  Neil Barofsky (inspector general overseeing TARP) thinks people were put into foreclosure that shouldn't have been; would have been better off had they never entered the program; and wrongly denied permanent loan modifications.

Update 10-27-2010:  Watch the hearing about HAMP's "in"effectiveness - http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/236346

Apparently about 15% of borrowers (398,000/1.3 million) who applied for the HAMP got help...another 520,000 have dropped out and about 45% (234,000) may have received loan restructuring with their loan company...but 286,000 homeowners weren't helped.

References to products and services are not a specific endorsement, but the user must perform their due diligence and investigate whether the product or service is right for them. I welcome any or all comments that would help others.