The Problem with Loan Modifications
Government’s “Making Home Affordable” program is not helping homeowners.
Only 6 months after the government announced the creation of the Making Home Affordable program, it seems to be having the opposite affect.
This program was launched in Feb 2009 and its intent was to help slow down the rate of foreclosures. The Treasury Department claimed that the program would aid 3-4 million American homeowners. Unfortunately only about 10% of that number have been successful with their loan modifications, and many who have even said the process is frustrating and painfully slow.
Hope on the horizon?
The US Treasury Department has admitted that the program has been much less productive than they had planned, but they also noted that banks are adding additional staff to speed up the application process. More than 450,000 applications are currently waiting to be processed.
The Treasury Department’s advice for homeowners having no luck with their modification, is to go to a non-profit credit counseling agency to get help communicating with their bank. Officials say that’s a much faster method than trying to navigate the system alone.
What a surprise? The government needs to grow a spine and force the banks to help homeowners instead of “hoping” they will. We all know how ethical bankers can be if they are left to their own devices.