Tag Archives: HOPE NOW Alliance

Nearly 70,000 homeowners received permanent loan modifications in April, while foreclosure sales stood at 59,000 for the month, according to data from HOPE NOW, an alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers, and nonprofit counselors. Since 2007, 6.39 million struggling homeowners have received permanent modifications, HOPE NOW reported. Completed short sales reached 27,000 in April--a slight adjustment from 28,000 in March.

From January through March, servicers implemented 244,933 loan modifications, according to HOPE NOW. At the same time, 83,394 borrowers avoided foreclosure through the short sale process. This brings the combined total for loan modifications and short sales to 328,327 for the first quarter. Meanwhile, HOPE NOW data showed foreclosure sales fell 14 percent to 161,641. Although foreclosure sales were down, foreclosure starts increased 30 percent in the first quarter to about 472,000.

The number of permanent mortgage modifications completed during the month of February rose 6 percent from January, according to the latest report from HOPE NOW. At the same time, foreclosure sales decreased and foreclosure starts increased, according to the industry group. More than 81,300 homeowners received permanent loan modifications in February, according to HOPE NOW. HOPE NOW also observed a 21 percent decrease in foreclosure sales in February. Foreclosure starts, on the other hand, increased 16 percent in February, rising to 193,860 for the month.

In January, servicers completed about 78,400 modifications, bringing the total since 2007 to 6.15 million, according to data from HOPE NOW. The number of completed short sales in January slowed to 29,244, down from 34,909 in December 2012. As of December 2009, the industry has completed 1.18 million short sales. When combining foreclosure prevention solutions through loan modifications and short sales, the cumulative total is about 7.33 million.

A HOPE NOW Alliance event in New Jersey on Saturday attracted over 550 families impacted by Super Storm Sandy. The event brought together large mortgage servicers, nonprofit housing counseling organizations, and insurance companies to help homeowners in need of mortgage and insurance assistance.

The housing market showed signs of progress across the board, but the overall recovery is still fragile, hence the need for efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures, according to the Obama Administration Housing Scorecard for February. ""House prices are steadily rising above the mid-crisis lows in markets throughout the country, while inventories of new and existing homes are further tightening, and even estimates of the 'shadow inventory' are down,"" said HUD deputy assistant secretary for economic affairs Kurt Usowski. ""That said, we still remain considerably below long-term normal levels of home sales and production.""

CoreLogic appointed Faith Schwartz, former executive director of the HOPE NOW Alliance, to serve as SVP of government solutions. In her new role, Schwartz oversees CoreLogic business relationships and execution with federal regulatory agencies and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

For all of 2012, servicers completed more than 850,000 loan modifications, while the industry also continued to push for another foreclosure alternative--short sales, according to recent data from HOPE NOW. As of 2007, the number of completed mods now stands at 6.06 million. Since 2009, the industry has seen 1.15 million short sales, with 422,605 of the short sales occurring in 2012 alone. In 2011, completed short sales reached 372,168. ""In the past year, there has been unprecedented work from the industry with respect to short sales as a viable mortgage solution,"" said Eric Selk, executive director of HOPE NOW.

Short sales continued to increase in October, while foreclosure starts fell, according to data from HOPE NOW. Completed short sales reached 38,518 in October, representing a 13 percent increase from September. Meanwhile, HOPE NOW also reported nearly 6 million struggling homeowners have received a permanent modification since 2007. Among the modifications, 4.8 million were proprietary loan modifications, while 1.1 million mods were through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Over the weekend, key players gathered in Long Island to assist struggling homeowners affected by Hurricane Sandy. The HOPE NOW Alliance organized the event, which provided face-to-face help from mortgage servicers, non-profit housing counseling organizations, and insurance companies, among others.