Successful Loan Modification Numbers Improving

The number of homeowners benefiting from the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program was up 17% in January over the previous month, the Wall Street Journal reported recently. HAMP, as it is called, was launched a year ago  and is designed to help homeowners having difficulty making their monthly mortgage payments modify the terms of their loan to prevent possible foreclosure. It offers homeowners who qualify for the program a possible reduction of their interest rate–in some cases as low as 2%–and a possible extension of the terms of the loan up to 40 years. Borrowers who successfully pay their modified loan for three months are eligible for permanent modification. The US Treasury said the program has temporarily cut mortgage payments for about 947,000 households. 116,000 loan modifications have been made permanent, up 75% from the previous month.