HOPE NOW Continues to Fudge Loan Modification Numbers
HOPE NOW reported loan modification numbers just recently, and there’s been an interesting change. What’s been nice in the past is they’ve been relatively consistent in the numbers that they report, as well as how they report them. Previously, it’s been fairly easy to see if loan modification numbers were increasing, decreasing, or treading water.
Now, both Housing Wire and DS News are reporting like this:
“The ratio of repayment plans to modifications for prime borrowers during January was 2.23 percent — up from 1.95 percent in December — while for subprime borrowers that ratio was 0.53 percent — unchanged from December’s data.”
Do you know what that means? I thought it was the purview of the federal government to obfuscate the numbers, so they didn’t have to tell the truth. After all, they’re pretty good at under-reporting unemployment, and they’ve eliminated reporting on a key inflationary indicator for the money supply.
When you report numbers in this manner, it makes it just a little more challenging to track what’s being done, and it’s easier to make your organization look good… deservedly, or not.
Other interesting tidbits…
Slightly more than 17 percent of all modifications are being made to mortgages owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
According to James Lockhart of the newly-found FHFA, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee almost 31 million mortgages, about 58% of all single family mortgages.”
So if Fannie and Freddie accound for 58% of all mortgages, and prime delinquencies have been exceeding sub-prime since last summer, then you’re getting SCREWED if you had good credit when you got your loan. Fannie and Freddie should be accounting for at least half of all loan modifications, based on their market share, yet they’re only accounting for 17 percent?
Mr. Lockhart claims that Fannie/Freddie loans account for only 20% of all seriously delinquent mortgages. My personal experience differs. I’m seeing a substantially higher percentage of borrowers who are trying to prevent foreclosure on agency loans.
Furthermore, if you dug a little deeper, you’d find that the difference between the previous mortgage payment and the modified mortgage payment would be much smaller for the GSE loans.
According to DS News, “about three percent of all modifications are being made to mortgages owned by Ginne Mae.”
Back in olden times (the late 90’s), FHA loans accounted for about 6% of the market share. Their market share has been on the rise in the last few years, so it looks to me like they could be doing a little bit more, as well. The Wiki on GNMA says that the 2003 statement claims that they insure 30 million loans.
Either one of two things is happening: either NOBODY calls HOPE NOW if they have a government-backed loan, or the government is not walking its talk when it comes to loan modification. Call me cynical, I think it’s the latter.
Whatever their numbers, our averages are TROUNCING the results you would get by going directly to your lender, by filing bankruptcy, or using “Hope” Now. If you need help, go here: http://foreclosureresolutioncenter.com.
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Tags: Fannie Mae, FHA, FHFA, FNMA, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, GNMA, HOPE NOW