Very little of the 75 billion dollars the banks received from the stimulus package has been used to help borrowers who are in trouble with their mortgages. The government has decided to try to pressure the banks to approve more loan modifications to provide foreclosure relief to borrowers. It’s about time they did something, but is it possibly too little, too late?
There are around 375,000 people who should qualify for the loan modifications but over 60%, or 225,000, of them have not turned in their paperwork or have turned in only part of the paperwork. But are the people who did turn in their forms doing any better? It sure doesn’t look like it.
If you do the math, you’ll see there are less than 150,000 people who filled out their applications completely. But out of those, 50,000 have not yet gotten an answer and only 1,700 have been approved. That leaves approximately 98,300. What happened to them? Were all of their applications denied?
In order to try to get more banks to approve modifications, the government has decided to put on their bullying hat. Treasury Department SWAT teams are scheduled to be making visits to lenders next week so they can determine which banks are not making enough loan modifications. Then they will publish a list for everyone to see. I bet the banks’ officers are shaking in their boots over that.
If you’re counting on Obama’s foreclosure relief to save your home, it’s probably best to start looking for a loan modification attorney to help you. Participation in the foreclosure relief program was never made mandatory as a condition for taking the bailout money. It’s too bad the banks haven’t been more cooperative, but it really isn’t all that surprising. After all, they’re out to make money, not deals.
To learn more information about loan modification services contact Janian and Associates for a free consultation.
