HOPE NOW Completes 4th Year of Operation, Continues to Assist Millions of Struggling Homeowners Nationwide

January 5, 2011

Latest Data Shows 1.65M Permanent Loan Mods in 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – January 5, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, wrapped up its fourth year of outreach efforts and assistance to the nation’s atrisk homeowners. The industry-led organization is poised for a busy 2011 in the areas of, homeowner education/outreach, data reporting on aid to homeowners, technology innovation and mortgage issues management.

HOPE NOW highlights for 2010 included:

• Free Events for At-Risk Homeowners: Organization of, and participation in, 40 free homeowner outreach events, held in 29 cities nationwide and attended by approximately 30,000 families. These events were held in partnership with the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program and NeighborWorks® America.

• Special Outreach to Indiana and the Gulf Coast: Participation in four additional free homeowner outreach events in partnership with NeighborWorks® America, local small business associations and several state foreclosure task forces in Indiana and the Gulf Coast region (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida).

• Reports on Loan Mod Results: Monthly reporting of foreclosure prevention data from participating servicers, which showed approximately 1.65 million permanent loan modifications versus 1 million foreclosure sales from January 2010 through November 2010.

• Web Help for Homeowners and Counselors: Continuation of a strong partnership with HOPE LoanPort™, a separate non-profit entity, originally developed by HOPE NOW, which has created a web-based portal for streamlined submission of loan modification applications and faster decision making by mortgage servicers. Currently, twelve (12) major mortgage servicers, along with 1,700 housing counselors from 428 organizations across the country, are using HOPE LoanPort™.

• Information for Policy Makers: Testimony provided for Congress on several occasions, regarding the unprecedented collaborative efforts of the mortgage industry, government and non-profit community to preserve homeownership in the United States. HOPE NOW will continue to brief legislators and congressional staff on foreclosure prevention efforts.

In 2011, HOPE NOW plans to continue its aggressive homeowner outreach, which includes member participation in one major outreach event per month, in partnership with the United States Treasury. These events are slated for regions that have been affected the most by foreclosure and mortgage delinquency. Events scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada and San Jose, California are already on the books for January and February, respectively.

Another major goal for the coming year is for HOPE NOW, and its members, to drive more efficient, effective and technology driven mortgage solutions for homeowners, counselors and loan servicers.

Additionally, HOPE NOW’s web site (www.hopenow.com) will continue to be the premier free resource for homeowners, mortgage professionals, housing counselors and government agencies.

The organization also officially announced that Faith Schwartz would remain Executive Director for 2011.

HOPE NOW Data, November 2010

According to the latest HOPE NOW data, an estimated 1.65 million homeowners have received permanent loan modifications from mortgage servicers since January 2010.

The reported data for November shows that, for the month, mortgage servicers completed approximately 82,000 proprietary loan modifications for homeowners and 29,972 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications (as reported by US Treasury Department), for an estimated total of 112,000. Important to note in the current data is that for every foreclosure sale that occurred in November, HOPE NOW estimates that there were two permanent loan modifications completed.

Additionally, proprietary loan modifications were completed at a rate of 2.4 per every HAMP modification completed in 2010. Despite difficult economic challenges, such as unemployment, twice as many at-risk homeowners receive a loan modification than go to foreclosure.

Here are some of the highlights of the November 2010 data:

• Total permanent loan modifications were approximately 112,000
• Loan modifications with reduced principal and interest payments accounted for 84% (69,000) of all proprietary modifications.
• Fixed-rate modifications (initial fixed period of 5 years or more) accounted for 90% (74,000) of all proprietary modifications.
• Completed foreclosure sales were approximately 55,000, down from 69,000 the previous month.
• Loan Modifications outpaced foreclosure sales in November 112,000 to 55,000.
• 60+ days delinquencies were 3.1 million, a decrease from the previous month’s estimate of 3.4 million.

Faith Schwartz, Executive Director, issued this statement:

“The past year was no doubt the busiest in our short history. HOPE NOW’s partners have worked tirelessly to help American homeowners and have made a significant difference to those at risk. The housing crisis is far from over, but our servicer members and counseling partners continue to provide homeowners with viable solutions on a daily basis.

Our member organizations are in agreement that every situation should be thoroughly evaluated for alternatives to foreclosure. HOPE NOW firmly commits to ‘continuous improvement’ regarding strong and clear communications among homeowners, housing counselors and mortgage servicers.

We are thankful to all of our partners who participated in 44 events across 33 cities in 2010. It is a testament to their dedication to their customers nationwide. As we move into 2011, we will continue to participate in large-scale outreach events, along with Treasury, NeighborWorks® America and our local partners, where homeowners have the ability to meet face to face with their servicer in order to find a sustainable mortgage solution. HOPE NOW will also work hard to improve on-site technology at these events and help homeowners achieve faster decisions.

HOPE NOW is proud of its members’ efforts over the past year and since the organization’s inception in 2007. We are dedicated to educating borrowers about their options, offering free resources and pointing folks in the direction of trusted contacts, namely HUD-approved, non-profit housing counselors or free resources, such as the Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline, 888-995-HOPE™. Finally, HOPE NOW believes in the future of new innovations that streamline solutions for homeowners at risk. We will continue to support the use of HOPE LoanPort™ and we encourage all servicers and non-profit HUD-approved counseling agencies to participate in this effort for 2011.”

HOPE NOW is the industry-created alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, counselors, and other mortgage market participants, brought together by the Financial Services Roundtable, Housing Policy Council and Mortgage Bankers Association, that has developed and is implementing a coordinated plan to help as many homeowners as possible prevent foreclosure and stay in their homes.

For more information go to www.HopeNow.com or call the free Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at (888) 995-HOPE™.

The following companies are members of the HOPE NOW Alliance:

Acqura Loan Services
American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.
Assurant, Inc.
Aurora Loan Services
Bank of America
Bayview Financial
Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC
Citigroup, Inc.
Fannie Mae
First Horizon Home Loans and First Tennessee Home Loans
Freddie Mac
Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation
GMAC Mortgage
Home Loan Services, Inc.
HomEq Servicing
HSBC
IBM Lender Business Process Services
JP Morgan Chase
Litton Loan Servicing
LoanCare Servicing Center
MetLife Home Loans
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation
NationPoint
Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC
OneWest Bank
PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.
PNC Mortgage
Quicken Loans
Radian Guaranty, Inc.
Residential Credit Solutions
RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation
Saxon Mortgage Services / Morgan Stanley
Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc.
State Farm
Strategic Recovery Group
SunTrust Mortgage, Inc.
Vericrest Financial Inc.
Wells Fargo and Company