Homeowners Often Re-
jected Under Obama Plan
12/17/09
Ten months after the Obama administration began pressing lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, many struggling homeowners are holding up their end of the bargain but still find themselves rejected, and some are even having their homes sold out from under them without notice.
These borrowers, rich and poor, completed trial modifications of their distressed mortgage, and made all the payments, only to learn that they won't get help after all.
How many is hard to tell. Lender's participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, still don't provide the government with information about who's rejected and why.
To date, more than 759,000 trial loan modifications have been started, but just 31,382 have been converted to permanent new loans. That averages out to 4%, far below the 75% conversion rate President Barack Obama said he seeks.
In the fine print of the form homeowners fill out to apply for Obama's program, which lowers monthly payments for three months while the lender decides whether to provide permanent relief, borrowers must waive important notification rights.
_______________________________
