Earlier this week, HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors, announced that over two million homeowners have avoided foreclosure and been able to stay in their homes due to the efforts of the HOPE NOW organization and its members. HOPE NOW also announced that the number of foreclosures prevented in July 2008 was at a record high for the second consecutive month, and was 6 percent higher than the number of foreclosures prevented in June. Compared to July 2007, the number of foreclosures prevented increased by more than 54 percent.
In July 2008, HOPE NOW mortgage servicers helped homeowners avoid foreclosure by completing more than 192,000 mortgage workouts, an increase of 11,000 workouts over June. Workouts include both modifications to the terms of existing mortgages and repayment plans. All workouts are intended to be permanent changes that, barring a life event such as a job loss, death, or illness, will enable the homeowner to stay in the home as long as he or she wishes to do so.
Approximately 112,000 of the homeowners with prime and subprime mortgages helped by servicers in July received repayment plans; approximately 80,000 received loan modifications. Nearly 52 percent of homeowners with subprime loans received modifications.

“The industry’s overwhelming commitment to helping homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes is undeniable and steadfast,” said HOPE NOW’s executive director, Faith Schwartz. “Because of HOPE NOW’s vast and multifaceted efforts, more than 2 million families and the communities in which they live are much better off today than they otherwise would have been.”
According to Schwartz, the rapid pace of foreclosure prevention by HOPE NOW members is likely to accelerate further in the coming months due to the alliance’s continuing efforts to reach out to millions of homeowners through mailings, the HOPE Hotline, and the regional homeowner workshops it has been holding around the country. “At the same time Tropical Storm Fay was raging, more than 3,600 people attended the homeowner workshops held in Florida last week,” she said. “These targeted efforts led by the HOPE NOW alliance clearly demonstrate the sheer volume of homeowners that will continue to be helped in the coming months.”
HOPE NOW also announced the results of a separate survey of subprime adjustable rate mortgages with rates resetting in 2008. The results, reported by nine companies representing approximately 60 percent of subprime loans, are as follows: – Approximately 1.1 million subprime loans were scheduled to reset between January and July 2008. – Since rates began to reset on these loans in January 2008, those loans that were current at reset and subsequently started the foreclosure process account for less than one percent of remaining loans. – Nearly 80,000 of these loans have been modified. Over 74 percent of these modifications are for five years or longer. – Of the subprime adjustable rate loans that were originally scheduled to reset during this period, 436,000 were paid in full when the homeowner refinanced the loan or sold the property.
A summary table of HOPE NOW’s July results can be found by clicking here. For more information, about the organization, including a full list of its members, click here.