29 seconds ago 2009-11-29T04:29:44-08:00
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 650,000 homeowners have entered into trial loan modifications under President Barack Obama's plan to help the housing market, about one fifth of those eligible, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.
The Treasury said there are 650,994 active trial modifications through October, or 20 percent of eligible borrowers, up from 487,081 through September. About 16 percent were participating through September.
Treasury did not release figures for trial modifications that have been made permanent.
Treasury said Saxon Mortgage Services had the highest percentage of trial modifications -- 44 percent -- of those eligible.
Two servicers, Bank United and Franklin Credit Management Corporation, had not extended any modification offers. MorEquity Inc had just three active modifications through October, statistically zero percent of its 2,299 eligible borrowers.
"As this report demonstrates, struggling homeowners in every state now benefit from reduced monthly mortgage payments and have an opportunity to stay in their homes," said Michael Barr, Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.
The report comes as new data from the National Association of Realtors showed house prices compared to a year ago continued to fall in 4 out of 5 U.S. cities in the third quarter.
(Reporting by Corbett B. Daly; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
