Proprietary Loan Modifications Lead HAMP Effort

Mortgage servicers completed 104,300 proprietary loan modifications in April, down slightly from 114,900 in the prior month, according to the Hope Now alliance. Meanwhile, the 38 Hope Now servicers and others participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program completed 68,300 permanent HAMP modifications in April, according to newly released figures. The proprietary program allows servicers to be more flexible and help homeowners that don't qualify or fall out of the HAMP program. But it is unclear how they rate in terms of re-defaults. During the first four months of 2010, Hope Now servicers completed 409,800 proprietary modifications, compared to 232,150 under the HAMP program. "Our data continues to show that the industry's comprehensive loan modification efforts are making significant headway," said Faith Schwartz, senior advisor for HOPE NOW. "The total number of modifications, including HAMP, show that more than three million homeowners have received modifications since 2007."