Servicers Continue to Ramp Up Mods Under HAMP

Residential servicers working on Home Affordable Modification Program transactions approved permanent loan modifications for 60,600 struggling homeowners in March, bringing the total number of borrowers helped by the government program to 230,800. Another 1.01 million borrowers are in trials where their monthly payments are reduced to 31% of income on their first mortgage, according to monthly data released by the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The pace of permanent modifications under HAMP has averaged 50,000 a month over the past several months. However, the number of borrowers in the three-month payment trials rose 20% in March, up from 835,200 in February. Observers have been expecting the number of permanent modifications and borrowers in trial modification to level off.