Home loan borrowers will have an additional two years to take advantage of the government’s loan modification program thanks to an extension announced by the Obama administration.
The Home Affordable Modification Program was originally unveiled in early 2009 as part of the Making Home Affordable initiative.
As of the end of March, 1,178,639 permanent modifications had been started under the program of which 866,078 were still active.
The HAMP program was set to expire at the end of this year.
But on Thursday, a joint announcement from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of the Treasury indicated that the Making Home Affordable Program through December 31, 2015.
The extension follows last month’s announcement by the administration that the Home Affordable Refinance Program would be extended through the end of 2015.
“The new deadline was determined in coordination with the Federal Housing Finance Agency to align with extended deadlines for the Home Affordable Refinance Program and the Streamlined Modification Initiative for homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” the administration statement said. “The Making Home Affordable Program has been a critical part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive efforts to provide relief to families at risk of foreclosure and help the housing market recover from a historic housing crisis.”
FHFA issued its own statement indicating that it had directed Fannie and Freddie to extend HAMP and the streamlined modification initiative until yearend 2015.
FHFA noted that 2.7 million foreclosure prevention actions have been taken by the pair of secondary lenders since the fourth-quarter 2008 — their first full quarter of conservatorship. The total includes 435,000 permanent HAMP modifications.
“HAMP set the standard to extend assistance to borrowers and created a more fair and transparent process,” Fannie Mae Senior Vice President of National Servicing Organization Leslie Peeler said in a statement. “As a result, modifications are performing better than ever.”
Freddie Mac Senior Vice President of Single Family Servicing and REO Tracy Mooney said in a news release that Freddie has helped nearly 230,000 borrowers through HAMP.
