HAMP has become the Bank of America’s major response to the incidence of homeowners having difficulty making mortgage payments due to the economic conditions.
However, the bank’s homeownership retention efforts were underway prior to implementation of HAMP last year, and the company continues to rely on proprietary programs to modify loans for homeowners who do not qualify for the government initiative. From January 2008 through last month, Bank of America completed more than 500,000 mortgage modifications under its own programs.
Bank of America expects that in the government’s monthly report on HAMP progress by all participating mortgage servicers, it will show 20,666 permanent HAMP modifications, up from 12,761 a month earlier. Another 22,303 additional permanent HAMP modifications are pending, awaiting the customers’ notarized signatures on their modified loan documents to finalize the process.
Additionally, Bank of America is also preparing systems for implementation of two additional components of the government’s making home affordable program. The bank has signed an agreement to participate in the Home Affordable second lien modification program. In addition, the bank will participate in the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA), which provides streamlining of the short sale process to give customers who can’t afford to keep their home an alternative to foreclosure.
Jack Schakett, loss mitigation strategies executive for home loans at Bank of America, said: “We are in a position to show strong results in completion of permanent HAMP modifications as we move into spring. We have a strong pipeline of modifications in the trial payment period, under review for conversion to permanent status, and out for final signature.”
