The Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program, intended to reduce the mortgage payments of homeowners nearing foreclosure, has not been as effective as many had hoped. According to Housing Wire, lenders started 43,739 new, three-month HAMP trials in the third quarter, down 84% from the peak of 272,709 a year ago.
Permanent modifications are down, too. Lenders reported 58,790 permanent conversions in the third quarter, according to the OCC, down 45% from the previous quarter but well above the 783 reported in third quarter of 2009 when the program was only six months old.
But through October, lenders converted 519,000 trials into HAMP permanent modifications.
Meanwhile, lenders foreclosed on 382,000 homes in the third quarter, a 31.2% jump from the previous quarter, according to the OCC.
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