Failed HAMP Trial Backlog Increases 22 Percent Since July

Most of the major mortgage servicers participating in HAMP have failed to take action on just over a quarter of a million delinquent mortgages which either never qualified for a trial modification or have been canceled out of their loan modification trials as of October. This backlog has increased 22%, or nearly 50,000 loans, since July.

Bank of America, with 73,185, is the worst offender of the bunch, having a larger backlog of these loans than any other servicer. JPMorgan Chase and CitiMortgage (the servicer for Citigroup) each have more than 60,000 such notes.

As of November, some 50,000 borrowers have been in a trial period for more than six months (the trial modification is supposed to be three to four months).

Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability at the Treasury Tim Massad was critical of these mortgage servicers when he spoke to reporters earlier this month.  He felt that backlogs formed due to understaffing and that the servicers “were not equipped to handle the problem.”