August 5th, 2009:

Loan modifications scarce & scattered

Nearly 3 million homeowners are eligible for the government sponsored loan modifications;  only 400,000 received a loan modification offer over the life of the  government program.

In the meantime, 1.5 million homeowners got a foreclosure notice in the first half of this year.

Lenders at the top of the list for percentage of eligible loans modified include Saxon Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC and Auroa; each modified more than 20% of eligible loans.

Bank of America, Select Portfolio, Ocwen and Wachovia modified five percent or less, according to an AP story in the San Jose Mercury.

My clients listen to the ads on radio and TV and think that modifications are widely available and actually happening. That isn’t my experience.  This report suggests that a lot depends on who is servicing the loan at this point.

We need to revisit judicially supervised loan modification before it gets any later.