Wells Will Begin Restructuring Second Liens Under HAMP

Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday promised that it soon would begin modifying second mortgages under a new wrinkle to the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. Wells noted that it would modify second liens when the corresponding first mortgage also is modified. During a conference call regarding the bank's earnings, chief financial officer Howard Atkins said the HAMP second lien program (2MP) would be up and running before the end of the second quarter. "We expect to begin offering the second lien program to customers who have both a Wells Fargo first and second lien in the next couple of weeks," Atkins said. Wells will offer 2MP to "other customers later in the second quarter," he said. The CFO told analysts and investors that the bank's $125 billion home equity loan portfolio "demonstrated some positive credit trends in the first quarter." The 60-day or more delinquency rate declined to 3.4% down from 3.58% in the fourth quarter. For HELs with LTV's above 100%, only 5.2% are delinquent. "The vast majority of customers with negative equity continue to make their payments," Atkins said.