The Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts are facing
major obstacles, according to the Associated Press, with more than 40
percent of the homeowners engaged in the president’s mortgage aid
program already dropped out. Of the 1.3 million participants who have
enrolled in the program since March 2009, about 30 percent — 390,000
– have received permanent modifications on their home loans, the
Treasury Department reported. While the program has been able to slash
mortgage holders’ monthly payments by $500 a month, on average, many
participants have complained that red tape and confusing paperwork
makes the program difficult to complete. Further compounding the
program’s problems, many of the borrowers who receive temporary
modifications have troubling transitioning to a permanent modification,
industry experts say, rendering the program largely ineffective. [Palm Beach Post]

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President Barack Obama’s foreclosure prevention program took a major hit in April, when more than 122,000 homeowners had their trial modifications cancelled, according to CNNMoney. This latest crop of failed trial mortgage modifications brings the tally to 277,640 since Obama’s plan was launched about a year ago. So far, just 68,000 troubled borrowers were able to transition out of the trial program to a permanent modification. Many of the modification attempts failed because borrowers either could not make the required loan payments or did not turn in proper paperwork, according to administration officials. [CNNMoney]

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President Obama’s mortgage modification plan took a hit yesterday, after Treasury Department data revealed at the rate of default on mortgages among homeowners in the program almost doubled in March, according to the New York Times. The defaults came even after homeowners enrolled in the program had received less expensive mortgage terms, as more than 2,800 borrowers holding the modified loans were unable to make payments since the program began last fall. Currently around 7 million households are delinquent in their mortgage payments.

With President Obama’s latest foreclosure prevention program recently unveiled, some may be wondering which homeowners will be able to take advantage of the $14 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program initiative. According to “Today” show personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson, the program targets two kinds of at-risk borrowers: those who are unemployed and those who are underwater. And while the program won’t help the unemployed on the job line, jobless borrowers will be able to have their payments reduced for as long as six months, something that could help them out in the short-term, Epperson said.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

From the March issue: Shaun Donovan is dealing with the worst housing crisis in generations and is at the center of the fight to staunch a historic flood of foreclosures. Being the nation’s chief housing czar might sound stressful, but for the 44-year-old policy wonk it’s a dream job. In an exclusive interview with The Real Deal, Donovan, the city’s former housing commissioner and now an Obama cabinet member, talked about life in Washington, from HUD’s new focus on cities to Ping-Pong with the president.  [more]

Just 10 percent of real estate agents think Obama’s Home Affordable Mortgage Program has actually slowed the rate of foreclosures, according to a survey released yesterday by national real estate listings site Homes & Land. Sixty-five percent of agents believed that the HAMP initiative had definitely not helped, while the rest were unsure. The survey, conducted in February, culled responses from almost 5,800 agents in local markets across the country. More than half of respondents had been working as real estate agents for more than 10 years. Despite the perceived HAMP failure, most agents were optimistic about market conditions: 58 percent said consumer interest in purchasing a home had increased over the past three months. TRD

Today is the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s announcement of its Home Affordable Mortgage Program, and it comes with good news. The program, which aims to keep borrowers in their homes by modifying their mortgage payments, has crossed the 1 million mark in trial modifications granted and has seen permanent loan modifications double in January to over 116,000 from just over 66,000 in December, CNBC’s Diana Olick reported. However, critics say the improvements are too meager to make much of a difference, with 5.6 million borrowers delinquent on their mortgages and only two-thirds of HAMP participants current on their modified payments. Meanwhile, just 12 percent of participants have seen a permanent reduction in their mortgage payments since the program began. Roughly 51,000 trial modifications have been cancelled as a result of non-payment or lack of documentation, Olick said.

The slice of the billions of dollars in federal money outlined by the
Treasury Department in the stimulus package signed by President Obama
in February will come to New York City largely as incentives to improve
energy efficiency and transportation infrastructure, according to Urban
Land Institute President Richard Rosan, who spoke to a group of around
40 people today at a monthly Association of Builders and Owners of New
York luncheon. Since the city will have a maximum of only 15 percent new building
stock by the year 2030, according to the institute, federal grants and
tax breaks for environmental efficiency improvements are likely to come
to New York in the form of renovations, Rosan said, referring to the
retrofitting of existing office buildings to qualify for LEED
certification. [more]