HAMP Meets Obama Loan Mod Target

Servicers participating in the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program have placed over 500,000 borrowers in trial modifications, according to government officials, meeting a benchmark goal several weeks before the Nov. 1 deadline. Administration officials and HAMP servicers are meeting in Washington and they are expected to agree on new streamlined documentation requirements for the loan modification process. Preliminary numbers show HAMP servicers have picked up the pace of moving troubled borrowers into 90-day trial modifications. In addition, some of the modifications are being finalized. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage said it has done 63,000 trials and completed modifications in September, up from 33,200 trials in August. "We have remained focused on exceeding our share of the government's goal to reach 500,000 Home Affordable Modifications by Nov. 1," WFHM co-president Mike Heid said. Bank of America said it has close to 95,000 borrowers in trials, up from 59,900 in August.