A Loan Modification is a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a mortgagor’s loan. This allows the loan to be reinstated, and results in a payment you can afford.

See if you can benefit from a Loan Modification by calling the law offices of Ioannou & Ioannou, LLP 866 910 7065 or email Adam at am@ioannoulaw.com.

ADMINISTRATION UPDATES DOCUMENTATION COLLECTION PROCESS AND RELEASES GUIDANCE TO EXPEDITE PERMANENT MODIFICATIONS

WASHINGTON – As part of the Administration’s ongoing housing market stabilization plan, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released updated guidance for servicers participating in the Administration’s mortgage modification program. This guidance refines the documentation requirements in order to expedite conversions of current trial modifications to permanent ones.
“With more than 850,000 homeowners in trial and permanent modifications, we are providing immediate relief to struggling homeowners,” said Phyllis Caldwell, Chief of Treasury’s Homeownership Preservation Office. “Today’s guidance represents our commitment to more efficiently move qualified homeowners into permanent modifications.”

“Increasing the number of borrowers receiving permanent modifications under HAMP is critical to our efforts to preserve affordable and sustainable homeownership,” said HUD Senior Advisor for Housing Finance William Apgar. “While we continue to meet our goals to provide immediate assistance, the updates announced today should enable servicers to transition borrowers more quickly and easily from trial to permanent modification.”
On December 23, 2009, the Administration required most trial modifications to be placed in a temporary review period to ensure that all borrowers are being fairly evaluated for the program.  During this temporary review period, servicers were not permitted to cancel an active HAMP trial modification for any reason other than failure to meet the HAMP property eligibility requirements. This allowed servicers to convert a significant number of trial modifications to permanent ones. In fact, the total number of conversions more than doubled in December. Guidance released today will help improve this conversion process for the future.

The updated process requires that key documents, including proof of income, be obtained from the borrower before a borrower evaluation can begin. This more robust requirement of upfront documentation will make it easier and quicker to convert trial modifications to permanent modifications and enable servicers to use their resources more effectively.

Call 866 910 7065 for more information.

UPDATED: ADMINISTRATION RELEASES DECEMBER LOAN MODIFICATION REPORT, UPDATE ON CONVERSION DRIVE

More Than 850,000 Homeowners Now with Median Payment Reductions Exceeding $500; More Than 110,000 Permanent Modifications Approved to Date Aggressive Administration Campaign Significantly Accelerates Conversion Rate; December Push Doubles Number of Permanent Modifications Over Life of Program

*Updated to reflect permanent modification total.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released an update on the Administration’s aggressive nationwide campaign to help borrowers in the trial phase of their modified mortgages convert to permanent modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The new December data demonstrates that there has been a significant acceleration in the rate at which borrowers are being approved for permanent modifications. As of December, more than 110,000 permanent modifications have been approved, including 66,000 that borrowers have accepted and 46,000 awaiting only the borrow’s signature. Under HAMP, more than 850,000 homeowners have had a median payment reduction exceeding $500.

“Treasury is committed to working with servicers and borrowers to sustain this improved pace,” said Chief of Treasury’s Homeownership Preservation Office (HPO) Phyllis Caldwell.

HUD Senior Advisor for Mortgage Finance William Apgar echoed this commitment: “HUD will continue to work with our Administration partners and utilize our broad network of housing counseling agencies to increase the number of borrowers receiving sustainable and affordable modifications under HAMP.”

The Administration has taken a number of steps to assist servicers in ramping up to give eligible homeowners the opportunity to participate in HAMP. Over the past month, Administration representatives were on-site in servicer offices to ensure that servicers increased efforts to deliver decisions to borrowers in trial modifications who have submitted all of their documents and to obtain any missing documents from borrowers. The Administration also implemented a temporary review period to ensure that all borrowers are being fairly evaluated for the program. The temporary review period extends until January 31, 2010.

HAMP was designed to offer through 2012 up to 3-4 million homeowners reduced monthly mortgage payments that are affordable and sustainable over the long-term. Currently, several million homeowners are estimated to be eligible for the program and more than 1 million have already received modification offers. At this pace, the program is on track to meet the goals that President Obama laid out in announcing the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. This Plan included several housing initiatives beyond mortgage modifications, including broad support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep interest rates low and facilitate mortgage affordability across the market, increased flexibilities for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in refinancing mortgages to provide homeowners with lower monthly payments, tax credits to support development of affordable housing, and support to state and local housing finance agencies. In just the first year, the Administration has launched all of these critical initiatives.

As part of an ongoing commitment to continuously provide greater transparency in all of the Administratio’s financial stability efforts, the December report includes several new measurements including a breakdown of permanent modification characteristics. These characteristics include predominant hardship reasons and monthly payment savings.

The December HAMP report can be found here: http://financialstability.gov/docs/report.pdf

Ioannou & Ioannou offers each family their own personal consultant that begins each process with a free consultation. Ioannou & Ioannou assess the borrower’s situation and determines his or her financial needs. The first step is usually determining whether or not a mortgage loan modification is really the best choice, as some homeowners are better off with short sales or other forms of loss mitigation.

Call Ioannou & Ioannou today for a FREE consultation. (866) 910-7065

October, 29, 2009
Government Press Release

Secretary Geithner and Secretary Donovan today announced their support for three key housing measures:

Extend the First Time Homebuyer Credit, with strong anti-fraud measures. The Administration supports a limited extension of the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, which is currently set to expire on December 1. This credit has made the difference in bringing new families into the housing market. Those buyers, in turn, have reduced the inventory of unsold homes and contributed to three months in a row of increases in home prices nationwide. A stronger housing market benefits homeowners and strengthens the financial system. In order to reinforce the progress already made this year, the Administration urges Congress to extend the Credit for a limited period. In doing so, we urge the Congress to include effective measures to combat tax fraud, including setting a minimum age for home purchase and requiring documentary proof of the purchase in order to receive the credit.

Extend Loan Limits for Mortgage Loans. The Administration supports a one-year extension of the current loan limits for the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. This extension is vital in helping support the continued availability of affordable mortgages for many working families and aiding the recovery in the housing markets. Under present law, the current loan limits will expire on December 31. Families are already applying for mortgages that are being turned down or priced higher due to this impending deadline. The extension of the loan limits is being considered in the upcoming Continuing Resolution, and we urge Congress to enact the extensions immediately in order to assure the smooth supply of capital to the housing market.

Secure Financing for the Housing Trust Fund. The Administration is committed to working with the Congress to fund the Housing Trust Fund. This Fund is an important source of support for extremely low income families who otherwise cannot afford decent housing. The Fund was created in the 2008 HERA legislation, but has not had an effective funding source and so has not been able to fulfill its important mission. While the President′ s Budget proposed to fund the Housing Trust Fund for $1 billion, and fully offset it within the Budget, today the Administration is announcing that it will actively work with Congress to identify a specific offset to assure that level of financing for the Fund.

Eligible borrowers who are current on their mortgages but have been unable to take advantage of today’s lower interest rates because their homes have decreased in value, may now have the opportunity to refinance. Through a refinance under HARP, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow the refinancing of mortgage loans that they own or that they guaranteed in mortgage backed securities.

For other FAQs visit http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov