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Loss Mitigation

Three Congressmen Call for HAMP’s End

In more bad news for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), three congressmen, Reps. Jim Jordan, Patrick McHenry, and Darrell Issa have proposed a bill to end the program. Issa is chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and introduced the bill at the committee's first hearing last week. HAMP took a beating at the hearing from the lawmakers. They called the program a ""colossal failure"" and said it's just one more example of why government interference in the private sector doesn't work.

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Wingspan Expands IndiSoft Partnership to Encompass Short Sales

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, LLC, a specialty and component mortgage servicer focusing on highly delinquent loans, is expanding its partnership with technology developer IndiSoft. Wingspan will use additional RxOffice portals from IndiSoft to explore foreclosure alternatives, such as short sales, for homeowners who do not qualify for loan modifications or are unable to retain their homes.

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Servicers Completed 1.24 Million Non-HAMP Loan Mods in 2010

Though servicers seem to be having minimal success with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), final 2010 data released by HOPE NOW shows that its members completed 1.24 million proprietary loan modifications last year. That number is more than double the 512,712 HAMP modifications completed by servicers last year. HOPE NOW's data show that there were 1.06 million foreclosure sales in 2010, compared to 1.76 million total loan modifications.

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Bill Introduced for Bankruptcy Court-Ordered Foreclosure Mediation

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is pushing legislation that would allow bankruptcy court judges to order foreclosure mediation between homeowners and lenders. His proposal is modeled after a program in his home state of Rhode Island. He says it would not give judges the power to slash mortgage debt like the many bankruptcy cramdown measures that have fallen short, but instead would force lenders to open up the lines of communication to find a solution that is in the best interest of both homeowners and investors.

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HAMP Mods Slowing, Outnumbered by Rejections and Cancelations

Last week, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, released a report to Congress saying servicers are not doing all they can to help facilitate the process of keeping borrowers in their homes. To date there have been 1,025,907 homeowners rejected for HAMP modifications by the eight largest servicers, and there have been 572,655 canceled trial modifications, which typically occurs because of insufficient documentation, program ineligibility, or because the borrower missed payments.

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Short Sale Commander Version 5.0 Launched by ELK Software

ELK Software announced Tuesday that its Web-based Short Sale Commander version 5.0 is complete and ready for use by real estate professionals looking to simplify and speed up the short sale process. The company's short sale platform is now available in a software-as-a-service (SAAS) format to the residential real estate community. ELK explained that the latest version is equipped with even more ways to abridge, monetize, and make the entire short sale process more time-efficient.

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HAMP Reaching Underwater and Middle Class Borrowers: Report

Treasury and HUD released a new report Monday on the state of the housing market, including new metrics that provide a more granular view of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Most program participants are moderate and middle income distressed homeowners, with a median credit score of 570, who are underwater on their mortgages. Borrowers in active permanent modifications have seen their monthly mortgage payment cut by a median of 40 percent.

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Report: 23% of Nevadans Facing Foreclosure ‘Walked Away’

According to a new report released this week by the Nevada Association of Realtors, nearly one in four Nevada homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure admit to ""walking away"" as part of a strategic default. The report also revealed that most of the state's homeowners facing foreclosure were not aware of federal and nonprofit programs designed to help them. Sixty-one percent said they'd never heard of the federal government's HAFA short sale program.

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Rural Communities in Virginia Facing Highest Rates of Foreclosure

A Virginia housing advocacy group released data this week that shows the housing circumstances in rural Virginia are arguably some of the direst in the nation. Key findings of the report say that the largest increase in foreclosure filings last year occurred in rural Virginia, easing only slightly when banks began moratoriums to review their foreclosure processes.

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Halo Asset Management Acquires Equitas Housing Fund

Texas-based Halo Companies, Inc. has acquired Equitas Asset Management, LLC and Equitas Housing Fund, LLC (the Fund). The $20 million Fund is a real estate venture that invests in single-family residential real estate across the United States. It primarily invests in undervalued or distressed properties at or below replacement cost through bank-owned real estate and non-performing mortgages.

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