CCH Financial Reform News Center

PSA Campaign to Raise Awareness of Making Home Affordable Program

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Advertising Council, in partnership with the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), announced the launch of a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to encourage homeowners who are struggling with their monthly mortgage payments to learn about the Making Home Affordable Program. “Even though the economy is getting stronger, many Americans are still facing the fear and uncertainty of losing their home to foreclosure,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “The Administration's loan modification programs have given more than a million responsible homeowners a chance to stay in their homes, and we want to do all we can to help make sure that struggling homeowners know about these free resources for help.”

SIGTARP Report Criticizes HAMP Results, Treasury Actions

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Quarterly Report to Congress filed by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program noted that the Home Affordable Modification Program continues to have difficulty achieving its goal of keeping people in their homes through permanent reductions of mortgage payments to affordable levels. “HAMP has not put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings,” the report said, noting that more modifications have failed than have succeeded. The report also said that “Treasury's refusal to provide meaningful goals for this important program is a fundamental failure of transparency and accountability .

GSE Loan Modifications and Refinancings Increase Sharply in First Quarter

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Loan modifications and refinancings by government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased significantly in the first quarter of 2010 as the volume of permanent modifications under the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program tripled and refinancings steadily grew under the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Loans 60-plus-days delinquent also declined for the first time in two years. The data were released in FHFA's First Quarter 2010 “Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance” report, which includes data on all of the GSEs' foreclosure prevention efforts.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Finalizes Affordable Housing Rule

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has finalized a rule that amends its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) regulation to authorize the Federal Home Loan Banks to provide AHP direct subsidies through their members under their homeownership set-aside programs to assist low- or moderate-income households who qualify for refinancing assistance under eligible federal, state and local targeted refinancing programs, including the Hope for Homeowners Program and the Making Home Affordable Refinancing Program. The rule is intended to enhance the ability of the FHLBanks to respond to the mortgage crisis.

FSOB Meeting Minutes Released

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Financial Stability Oversight Board has released the minutes of its April 14, 2010, meeting. Discussion during the meeting focused on, among other things, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP); the use of Treasury Department funds to provide additional help in certain states that have been particularly affected by house price declines; updates concerning the other programs established by the Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), including the recent dividends received under the Capital Purchase Program (CPP); proceeds received from recent public auctions held by the Treasury to sell the warrants it had received under the CPP and Targeted Investment  program; and the amount of equity capital and debt funding provided to and invested by fund managers under the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Partnership Program.

Treasury Report Highlights HAMP Failures

By J. Preston Carter, J.D., LL.M., Editor, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter, CCH Financial Privacy Law Guide, CCH State Banking Law Reporter and Bank Digest.

A Treasury Department report examining implementation of the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) shows that the program produced the fewest new trial mortgage modifications (37,021) since “at least last June” and that the number of cancelled trials during the month far outweighed the new ones, with 162,467 failures in April. Earlier this year, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Domestic Policy Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, released a report highlighting HAMP's shortcomings.

March Loan Modification Report Released

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Treasury and Housing and Urban Development Departments have announced the release of the March data for the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). As of the end of the month, more than 1.4 million homeowners received offers for trial modifications, and more than 1.1 million borrowers were receiving a median savings of $500 each month. Permanent modifications have been granted to more than 230,000 homeowners, and an additional 108,000 permanent modifications have been approved by servicers and are pending only borrower acceptance. Homeowners' lower monthly mortgage payments under HAMP represent a cumulative savings of more than $3 billion.

Federal Property Manager Report Filed

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The FHFA has submitted to Congress the agency's report as a Federal Property Manager detailing actions taken to prevent unnecessary foreclosures. The report covers the number and types of loan modifications and the number of foreclosures during the reporting period.

COP Evaluates Progress of TARP Foreclosure Mitigation Programs

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The COP has released its April oversight report, “Evaluating Progress of TARP Foreclosure Mitigation Programs.” The COP commended recent changes to the mortgage modification program designed to reach more homeowners, but found that the Treasury Department is still struggling to get its foreclosure programs off the ground even as the crisis continues unabated.

Administration Unveils Additional Homeowner Relief

By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter.

The administration is seeking to mitigate the foreclosure crisis by helping three to four million homeowners through the end of 2012 who are struggling with mortgage payments. Changes to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs, announced March 26, 2010, are targeted at homeowners facing either unemployment or large declines in the value of their homes.

The program is being funded in part through the $50 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) housing relief allocation, as well as the private sector.