Showing posts with label HAMP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HAMP. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Why HAMP and HARP Have Run Their Course

Why HAMP and HARP Have Run Their Course | Carrington Real Estate – News



“HAMP was developed to address a crisis and we’re really not in a crisis,” said Eric Selk, executive director of the Hope Now Alliance.

The Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program has been extended and expanded so many times that it’s gotten hard to imagine life without it. But the days may be numbered for MHA and its two primary initiatives, the Home Affordable Modification Program and Home Affordable Refinance Program.

As the housing market’s recovery continues to solidify, the number of underwater borrowers that MHA was designed to help has receded, not to mention the fact that a new administration will occupy the White House following the upcoming elections.

In one sense, the scheduled Dec. 31 end date of Making Home Affordable is a nonevent because nationally, the volume of loans flowing through HAMP and HARP has slowed considerably. But the programs are still a force to be reckoned with. The refinance program’s volume has been significant in the past and remains so in certain regions. And there’s no denying that the modification program, while small in size now, has had a huge influence over the way loss mitigation is handled in the market.

“MHA has left a lasting impact on the industry,” said Mark McArdle, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Stability. “Previously, modifications were typically about kicking the can down the road and ultimately did not reduce payments. HAMP has introduced a standardized loss mitigation waterfall as a common expectation. The question is, when we go away, how much of that will remain?”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is weighing options for a refinance program to succeed HARP, but any plan would be limited to loans purchased by its primary charges, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And it’s so far been silent on any plans for a new modification program to take HAMP’s place.

But HAMP’s influence will continue long after servicers stop taking requests for new workouts. The runoff of previously modified loans will last for years, while other forms of loss mitigation will continue to incorporate procedures that were rare, or even nonexistent, prior to its existence — not to mention how history will view Making Home Affordable’s legacy in the broader context of the Great Recession.

“What the expiration of this means will be a matter of how you view economics,” said Les Parker, an industry veteran and contributing writer to The Mortgage Professional’s Handbook, a guidebook on the inner-workings and history of the mortgage industry published earlier this year. “It is government intervention, and the questions people will look at is, was that government intervention good or bad?”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the mortgage industry might look like once HAMP and HARP have come to an end.

A Political Question

Both Republican and Democratic presidents have shown a willingness to let government intervene in the mortgage markets in the past. It’s unclear where the current slate of presidential candidates stand on the issue, but generally, Parker said, “I think the odds are Making Home Affordable is not going to be extended if a Republican is coming in.”

Some Republicans and investors, as well as the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program that funds MHA, have been critical of HAMP’s redefault rate or the program’s inability to reach more borrowers. Critics also have showed concern about the potential moral hazard it presents in lowering delinquent borrowers payments in standardized ways that don’t account more granularly for individuals’ merits, while leaving performing borrowers’ unchanged, Parker noted.

Certain Democrats as well as the Treasury, the FHFA and other proponents have meanwhile defended the program. They note that the majority of HAMP loans remain current after modification, that the program was structured to minimize moral hazard and that performance improved over time, with the latest iterations proving generally more effective than proprietary modifications.
That debate will resurface in any contemplation of an extension or successor program to HAMP. But because the next president will take office shortly after MHA’s scheduled expiration, it’s unlikely there will be any change from the current plan to let it sunset, unless it is a simple extension. However, an extension remains a long shot because of the widespread perception that the program was created to respond to a crisis that no longer exists.

“I think it will sunset because how do you justify that there is still a problem?” Parker said.
Ultimately, HAMP could become the model for what some are calling a “mod on a shelf,” which could be revived in the event of a future housing crisis, said Eric Selk, the executive director of Hope Now.

“HAMP was developed to address a crisis and we’re really not in a crisis,” he said.
While the end of Making Home Affordable may serve as fodder for political rhetoric in debates about housing policy, market conditions are generally far better than they were during the crisis, said David Lykken, president and founder of Transformational Mortgage Solutions, a consulting firm in Austin, Texas.

“It’s important to realize as we go into this election cycle that there could be a lot of talk about how the end of Making Home Affordable could destroy homeownership to suggest that we need the programs,” he said.

But delinquencies have returned to normalized levels, noted Lynn Fisher, a vice president of research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association. And even though negative equity levels aren’t back to normal, they are far closer to it.
The percentage of underwater homes among people with a mortgage is less than 10%, as opposed to a rate more than twice that during the crisis, according to CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft.

“You would normally expect to see negative equity closer to 2% to 3%. We’re at most two to three years from normality,” Nothaft said.

Overall, the number of underwater homeowners with a GSE loan has dropped by more than 80% since its peak at the end of 2011, and the vast majority of the remaining underwater borrowers are current on their mortgages, according to FHFA Director Mel Watt. About 9% are still seriously delinquent.

While borrower distress associated with crisis-era underwater homes is less of a problem on average, it remains a challenge in certain concentrated regions. So the expiration of a modification program specifically designed to help these borrowers will put some stress on these regions and entities that hold concentrations of loans there.

States with longer foreclosure timelines such as New York, New Jersey and Florida are more likely to feel some impact from HAMP’s expiration, said Michael Fratantoni, the MBA’s chief economist.
And some regions that still lag in home price recovery will be affected more than others when MHA’s refinance program ends. These include Las Vegas, the Inland Empire in California, and parts of Florida, Fratantoni added.

HARP Will Be Replaced

While it was less groundbreaking than HAMP and received the benefit of a number of refinements over time, the Home Affordable Refinance Program didn’t have as tough of a row to hoe.
“HARP was an amazingly successful program,” said Fratantoni. “I think HAMP had some more hurdles to get over.”

And unlike HAMP, there are immediate plans for a GSE successor to HARP.

“As HARP winds down, we are also working to make sure that borrowers with high loan-to-value ratio loans have a refinance option in the future,” Watt said in in a policy speech in March, noting that it “will be important in the event there are regional or localized economic disruptions that lead to negative equity.” However, borrowers who previously participated in HARP would not be eligible to refinance under the new program.

The GSEs have helped more than 3.3 million homeowners refinance their mortgages through HARP, saving them on average $2,200 a year in reduced mortgage payments.

HARP loans accounted for as much as 40% of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance volume at the program’s height in May 2012, according to Black Knight Financial Services estimates. However, that was an unusual month, and the percentage has fallen drastically over time. While it continues to aggressively target remaining eligible borrowers, the FHFA found HARP accounted for only about 5% of GSE refinances during January 2016 and quarterly averages were no higher than around 27% at the market’s peak.

So what kind of program could succeed HARP at Fannie and Freddie?

One possibility is a Fannie Mae loan modeled off of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ streamline refinance program, said Brent Nyitray, director of capital markets at iServe Residential Lending in Stamford, Conn.

“That’s one thing the government could easily do if they wanted to permanently extend HARP,” he said.

Among other things, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not require an appraisal on its streamline refinances, which would help underwater borrowers overcome any loan-to-value eligibility restrictions.

“The question will be will lenders want to do that? Because there are fears of having the loan put back to you by Fannie Mae,” Nyitray said.



  • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  • Please contact us if you need help or resources as we are here and happy to help!

  • Respectfully,

  • Dana Shafman
  • Managing Member
  • END Consulting
  • (888) 234-7006 Ext 101
  • Dana@ConsultingEND.com

  • www.TheDailyComplaint.com


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

SIGTARP Wants to Know Why Servicers Deny 70% of HAMP Requests

BY

JUL 29, 2015 12:01am ET

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is renewing calls for further investigation of servicers it claims may be denying too many Home Affordable Modification Program applications.

"Treasury has a small window of opportunity to figure out why so many people have been denied HAMP and to establish a zero tolerance standard for servicers who do not follow HAMP's rules," Special Inspector General Christy Romero said in a statement accompanying SIGTARP's latest quarterly report, issued Wednesday.

According to SIGTARP, 70% of homeowners who applied to lower their mortgage payment through HAMP have been denied assistance by their servicer. At some of the largest servicers, that percentage is even higher, the watchdog adds.

"There is a massive lost opportunity for an emergency program designed to help homeowners through the crisis if only 20-30% of families seeking help from HAMP actually get into HAMP," she said.

SIGTARP years ago pushed Treasury to require servicers to report why homeowners were rejectedfor HAMP, and found that servicers largely blamed it on "incomplete" applications.

It is now suggesting that the problem may lie in servicer rather than borrower inadequacies.
"Even if some people did not meet Treasury's eligibility standards, SIGTARP has repeatedly pointed out, and Treasury has found in their reviews, known problems by the largest HAMP servicers that have plagued homeowners," she said.

Examples of these include income calculation errors, lost paperwork, and improper denials, according to Romero.

HAMP mods were expected to experience some stress from upward adjustments in rate set to occur this year. Re-defaults have been high, and the program also has been the target of scam artists who have fraudulently promised borrowers assistance through the program in exchange for a fee.

Comments (4)
I can vouch that SIGTARP is correct. I applied for a HAMP loan 10 times with the same lender over 3 yrs. I was told this reason and that reason. I never missed a payment. Massive drop in income. I had to move out to another region, and was told they wouldn't do second homes. One person called me a dirt bag, another told me to stop making my payments.

Finally on attempt 9 I was told I would qualify if I rented the home. I was stunned at the rent I got. It was twice what I had expected. After getting a tenant and 3 months rent, plus 3 months up front I reapply. Again this major Bank denies the loan after 5 months.
Posted by brian B | Wednesday, July 29 2015 at 10:47AM ET
My awesome servicer just kept stating the following in mediation "we did not take any federal money so we do not need to offer any assistance". That's what I call a Class Act!!!
Posted by rita a | Wednesday, July 29 2015 at 11:02AM ET
Everytime I have any kind of interaction with a rep of my servicer it turns into a boondoggle and a quagmire swamp of practiced indifference from what sounds like to me, a barely adult arrogant, rule babbling shallow, silly illiterate.

Invariably they sound less like someone genuinely interested in helping the client than a loan shark intent on taking you for whatever you're worth. I've begun a couple of talks with various reps about modifications and/or refi's but always back out or lose interest after reminding myself of the fines and penalties associated with any further investment of my time.

The number of horrendous stories online of people just trying to hold onto their houses in the face of this Machiavellian korprate tornado of personal destruction is astounding.

We (the people) need some intervention from some loftier power; if God's too busy..., the Feds will do.
Posted by Duncan M | Wednesday, July 29 2015 at 11:42AM ET
AMEN!
Posted by Todd K | Wednesday, July 29 2015 at 1:15PM ET

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Please contact us if you need help or resources as we are here and happy to help!

Respectfully,

Dana Shafman
Managing Member
END Consulting
(888) 234-7006 Ext 101
Dana@ConsultingEND.com


Tuesday, June 16, 2015

CALIBER HOME LOANS

CALIBER COMPLAINT:

Submitted:      May 2015
Reported By:     Ramona in Waterford, Michigan
Report Link:   CLICK HERE

Disorganized crime somewhere in the US

I've been working on a modification with these people [Caliber Home Loans] for the last year and a half. I submitted full paperwork no less than three times and finally got some help when I involved the State of Michigan. I received HAMP funds and a new payment but now not only are my new payments not being recorded, they're sending foreclosure notices based on not receiving the amount of the old payment. There's ONE 800 number that rings at a call center but you can't get past them to get any real help. Is this a scam company? Does anybody know what's going on here?

END CONSULTING ADVICE:

Hi Ramona,

I have had many dealings with Caliber Home Loans and can completely validate your complaints. I commend you for contacting the state of Michigan, as that is an excellent and important step in asserting your consumer rights.

You have so many consumer rights and consumer protections under the FDCPA and the CFPB and the FTC and RESPA with regard to your complaint and it only takes a few minutes to submit the complaints online to the CFPB and FTC for an immediate response and action.

In fact, we covered your complaint today on our radio show The Daily Complaint and provided a pathway for success to include how to contact the CFPB - thank you for posting your complaint online via the Ripoff Report so that others will have the opportunity to learn from your experiences in dealing with Caliber Home Loans. There are firm rules in place with regard to the posting of your payments during the MHA HAMP trial period plan and also to moving forward with foreclosure but again, you must know your rights in order to exercise your rights.

In addition to submitting complaints to the CFPB, I would suggest preparing a QWR for Caliber Home Loans – you can learn how through the CFPB by typing in QWR in their search bar. They are required to acknowledge the QWR per RESPA in 5 business days and answer it in 30 business days or you do have recourse, so listen to us address your complaint on The Daily Complaint today and contact us if you need further information on how to not only attack your problem but to get the solutions that you are seeking. You can hold Caliber Home Loans accountable for their actions!

Good luck!

Respectfully,

Dana Shafman
Managing Member
END Consulting
(888) 234-7006 Ext 101



Tuesday, May 19, 2015

WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE

WFHM COMPLAINT:

Submitted:      May 2015
Reported By:     DebbieRising in Florida
Report Link:   CLICK HERE

My husband was off work for a month due to MRSA and I'm disabled. We got behind, he called and asked what we should do. They suggested we put our home up for short sale since we can't afford it. We can but when you lose a month wages its tough. So every other week we were paying 1500.00, the last payment they said was 574.00 so we paid it. All the while kept telling us we were going into foreclosure. Got a call yesterday stating that we owe 98.00 in late fees. They call 4 to 6 times a day, different person each time. No compassion and they don't want to work with you they just want your home. My husband is working 80/hr week just to keep us in our home. Noone will help because we're not far enough behind, but get 3 months and they threatiening to foreclose.

END CONSULTING ADVICE:

Hi DebbieRising,

You have rights and they are being violated by WFHM...period. Check out the CFPB's website and here is a link to your basic consumer rights via the CFPB's website ConsumerFinance.gov - http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-rules-establish-strong-protections-for-homeowners-facing-foreclosure/. You may also want to visit the FTC with regard to debt collection at FTC.gov to understand debt collection laws and your rights (they cannot harass you or lie to you).

Without knowing the in's and out's of your situation, you DO NOT NEED a short sale and you should qualify for mortgage assistance if you are behind or are in imminent danger of falling behind per the MHA HAMP website MakingHomeAffordable.gov (do not let any lawyers or loan officers above bait you into something you do not need.

We reviewed your complaint on our radio show this morning called "The Daily Complaint" and we put together an attack strategy for you on the show - you can listen for FREE by simply going to TheDailyComplaint.com as you do not need to pay anyone to cure the default and abuses/violations that you have suffered at the hands of WFHM.

Please feel free to contact me if you need additional help as we never charge to speak with you and certainly not to point you in the direction for success. You can fight WFHM and win, just know that, but you must know your rights in order to assert them and the CFPB is an excellent place to start to get educated.

Good luck!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's END

Respectfully,

Dana Shafman
Managing Member
END Consulting
(888) 234-7006 Ext 101

Monday, January 5, 2015

NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE

NATIONSTAR COMPLAINT:

Submitted:      December 2014
Reported By:     1RabidRabbit in California
Report Link:   CLICK HERE

We have applied since beginning of 2013 for mod. was given a forbearance payment schedule. after 2 mo we were no longer qualified for the program as wife went back to work. we approached and notified Nationstar about the situation. the rep said that we were correct in our assessment of the situation and that we would have to file for another mod. our rep asked if it made any sense for us to continue with the payments, and was told "No since we no longer qualified for the forbearance program. at that point we stopped making payments, and was of the impression that we had to wait another 60-120 days to file for a mod as that is what was required in the beginning and we were of the impression that we were considered, at that point, up to date on our payments. 

We submitted the new mod request and were told it would be 30 days or more before underwriting finished with the docs. We thought everything was going ok at this point. Then we were turned down as we were told that we were, in their words, 300 short on our income. We were able to increase our income, and resubmitted, this time along with the hardest hit fund backing. Long story short, we have submitted 4 times for a mod. In that time we went from being underwater on our mortgage appox 50-60% to having an equity amount, according to them and the comps in the area of between 2-15000, depending on who you ask. But the ultimate kicker is that they told the Hardest hit fund program here in CA that we were turned down because we were delinquent on our forbearance program. 

WHAT!!! That was the first I heard of it. Then they told us. I have tried to reason with them over this, saying that we were only doing what we were told to do by them and also our understanding of what was told to us, but in no way did we default. They have our house on the block for (get this) 1/07/15 and for 8000 more than what we owe on the note. I have offered to let them get this place appraised for an actual value, and have been on the phone with their reps on several occasions trying to reason this out with them. We have lived here for over 13 yrs and, it's not so much the house, as it is the neighbors that we feel are being ripped away. We did what we were told. We bent over backwards for this company to meet their demands. This was not a decision we came to easily as it took us 2 months agonizing over the decision to apply for the mod. The Hardest hit fund for this state approved us 3 times. 2xs just to reinstate the loan. They still said no even though they would have gotten up to 25000 that was back owing. 

It does not make sense since having a loan working makes the company money, not foreclosure. I'm just confused, mad, and downright disappointed in the program that was supposed to help us improve our situation and stay in our home. I still don't get it. Can't afford a lawyer, but I don't understand how we could have been turned down in the first place when the money was available from the fed to offset the difference of the loan. Do they get to turn people down and still pocket the money? I feel like they were just waiting us out. I want to keep my mortgage and house, but at a rate I can afford and in the program I was originally qualified to apply for.

END CONSULTING ADVICE:

I am so sorry that you have been a victim of Nationstar Mortgage as it is easy to see that your consumer rights have been violated at a minimum not to mention your constitutional rights most likely. It is unfortunate that Nationstar does not patrol their own yard so to speak but I can assure you that there is assistance out there for you outside the walls of Nationstar as outlined below. 

Furthermore and in my personal opinion, I believe that you get better and swifter results using regulatory and government pressure versus a lawsuit that Nationstar is already prepared to fight; in essence, you catch Nationstar off guard by going around them and basically beat them at their own game. Unfortunately, it is a game and you will need to arm yourself with knowledge and the a

ppropriate documentation in order to achieve the desired results.

The fact that Nationstar Mortgage is not only blatantly breaking the very rules that protect you as a consumer but also falsely denying your mortgage assistance requests is not only absurd but egregious and abhorrent…the exact definition of Unfair Deceptive Abusive Acts and Practices (UDAAP). Nationstar is at a minimum violating your consumer rights and laws governing mortgage servicing behavior that went into effect on January 10, 2014.

You can learn more by visiting the CFPB's website and becoming educated about the rights afforded you under the FDCPA, Dodd-Frank and RESPA via the CFPB. Here is a link to the current rules that went effect in 2014 and stronger rules are forthcoming in 2015: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-rules-establish-strong-protections-for-homeowners-facing-foreclosure/

We routinely look for posts to answer in hopes that it will not only bring optimism to those homeowners and borrowers in distress but also some basic information to assist in fighting the banks that are "too big to fail" but yet don't appreciate the bailout that we provided in their time of need.  The debt collectors like SPS, SLS, Green Tree, Ocwen and Nationstar are simply just piranhas but they can be beat at their own game too just like the big banks can be defeated.

Thank you as I commend you for taking the first step in asserting your consumer and constitutional rights by complaining about the situation in an effort to shed light on the abuse and encourage change. With that said, you have overlooked the key aspect to your fight, which is putting the violations and abuse in writing in the form of a proper QWR and attaching proof of your consumer and constitutional rights that have been violated; they have certainly been violated in this case per your posted complaints. 

A QWR is an integral tool in getting what you desire and all of the aforementioned mortgage lending and debt collection companies MUST answer your Qualified Written Requests (QWR); if they refuse then you take your fight to all the regulatory agencies outside of Nationstar that assist in fighting for your rights like the CFPB; it’s a shame that these more than profitable and previously bailed-out companies engage in this type of consumer abuse.

I would be more than happy to educate you as to how to fight for your rights as my firm routinely seeks out complaints online so that we can educate as to how to fight back on our weekday show called "The Daily Complaint” where we review a complaint and how to tackle it successfully.

We reviewed your complaint on the show if you would like to listen, visit www.TheDailyComplaint.com

As mentioned above, you can learn more by visiting the CFPB's website and becoming educated about the rights afforded you under the FDCPA, Dodd-Frank and RESPA via the CFPB. Here is a link to the current rules that went effect in 2014 and stronger rules are forthcoming in 2015: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-rules-establish-strong-protections-for-homeowners-facing-foreclosure/

In the event you have further questions, you can contact me via email, web or phone (full contact information is below) as I would be more than happy to answer your questions and point you in the right direction.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's END

Respectfully,

Dana Shafman
Managing Member
END Consulting
(888) 234-7006 Ext 101