Loan Modifications Dropped 10% in January: Hope Now

The mortgage industry made fewer loan modifications in January, while deeds-in-lieu and foreclosure sales spiked, according to Hope Now.

Altogether, roughly 26,000 loan modifications were completed in January, down 10% from the previous month. Short sales also declined month-to-month, falling 12% to 5,700 in January, Hope Now reported in a news release Monday.

Foreclosure starts and sales both increased during the same period. Foreclosure sales rose to 33,000 in January from 24,000 in December, while foreclosure starts increased 4,000 month-to-month to 58,000 in January.

Deeds-in-lieu also increased by 17% to 1,700 in January. Serious delinquencies grew to 1.84 million in January from 1.62 million the month prior.