HOPE NOW: 112,000 Mortgage Assistance Actions in July

HOPE NOW said its member lenders and servicers completed 112,000 mortgage assistance actions in July, compared to 25,00 completed foreclosures.

HOPE NOW, a voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors of which the Mortgage Bankers Association is a founding member, said non-foreclosure assistance included loan modifications, short sales, deeds in lieu and workout plans. It included 35,000 permanent loan modifications completed under both proprietary programs and the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program. HOPE NOW estimated 23,000 modifications came through proprietary programs and 12,081 through HAMP. Of proprietary modifications completed in July, 46 percent (10,437) reduced the monthly principal and interest payment by 10 percent or more.

Since HOPE NOW began reporting data in 2007, non-foreclosure actions totaled more than 25 million; total permanent loan modifications is 7.9 million.

“While delinquency continues to decline to pre-crises norms, there still remains a population of homeowners who need assistance,” said HOPE NOW Executive Director Eric Selk. “Completed modifications actually increased, so despite various conditions, the situation of thousands of homeowners improved.”

Other key report metrics, Month Over Month:

–Loan Modifications: 35,000 completed in July vs. 42,000 in June, a decrease of 17 percent.
–Short sales: 5,700 completed in July vs. 6,300 in June, a decrease of 10 percent.
–Deed in-lieu: 1,400 completed in July vs. 1,700 in June, a decrease of 16 percent.
–Foreclosure starts: 51,000 in July vs. 54,000 in June, a decrease of 5 percent.
–Foreclosure sales: 25,000 in July vs. 29,000 in June, a decrease of 12 percent.
–Serious delinquencies: 1.47 million in July vs. 1.57 million in June, an increase of 7 percent.

Year Over Year
–Loan Modifications: 35,000 completed in July vs. 34,000 in July 2015, an increase of 3 percent.
–Short sales: 5,700 completed in July vs. 7,700 in July 2015, a decrease of 26 percent.
–Deed in-lieu: 1,400 completed in July vs. 1,500 in July 2015, a decrease of 6 percent.
–Foreclosure starts: 51,000 in July vs. 51,000 in July 2015, unchanged.
–Foreclosure sales: 25,000 in July vs. 28,000 in July 2015, a decrease of 9 percent.
–Serious delinquencies: 1.57 million in July vs. 1.65 million in July 2015, a decrease of 5 percent.

The full data set for July is available at www.hopenow.com.