For the first time since the Obama Administration launched its flagship program for keeping homeowners from losing their homes in foreclosures, fewer than 1,000 Colorado homeowners have entered the required first stage of it in a month.
Only 995 homeowners in Colorado entered the “active trials” portion of the HAMP, or Home Affordable Modification Program, in November, showed the report released by the U.S. Treasury Department today.
The previous low for a month was in October, when 1,065 people joined the program. The report did show that there are 10,324 in the permanent modification part of HAMP, a 220 person increase from October.
The 11,319 Colorado homeowners in either the active trials or permanent modification portion accounts for 1.4 percent of all U.S. HAMP activity. Nationally, there are 740,748 homeowners receiving permanent modifications. When the Obama Administration launched the program in March 2009, it hoped to help several million homeowners escape foreclosure. However, at that time, the root cause of foreclosures were toxic mortgages, most of which have worked their way through the system. The far bigger culprit for foreclosures in recent years has been homeowners losing their jobs or being severely under-employed. Recently, the administration has been emphasizing other avenues, such as making it easier for underwater borrowers to refinance their mortgages into historically low rates.
For those in the program, savings can be substantial.
To date, all homeowners in permanent modifications have saved an estimated $9.9 billion in monthly mortgage payments. The median savings on first mortgages is $530 per month.
Eighty three percent of eligible homeowners entering a HAMP trial modification since June 1, 2010 received a permanent modification. On average, the trial period lasted 3.5 months.
This month, the Making Home Affordable program begin releasing additional details on what is called the Second Lien Modification Program, or 2MP. Homeowners in 2MP saved a median of $163 monthly on their second mortgage, in addition to the savings on their first mortgage.
Half of the borrowers enrolled in 2MP are from three states – California, Florida and New York. Respectively, they have 35 percent, 9 percent and 6 percent of the homeowners in 2MP.
County January 2011 January 2012 YOY percentage change
Adams 370 268 -27.6
Arapahoe 418 296 -29.2
Boulder 75 57 -24.0
Broomfield 25 15 -40.0
Denver 358 269 -24.9
Douglas 238 132 -44.5
El Paso 411 285 -30.7
Jefferson 250 191 -23.6
Larimer 120 100 -16.7
Mesa 118 93 -21.2
Pueblo 126 102 -19.0
Weld 190 131 -31.1
Total 2,699 1,939 -28.2
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
