ProPublica: Bailout

New Data Shows Loan Mod Logjam Continues; Servicers Must Double-check Denials

2010-03-15T13:06:11-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - March 15, 2010 1:06 pm EDT

New data released Friday shows that the story for the government’s foreclosure prevention program remains the same: Mortgage servicers have delivered relatively few permanent modifications, and hundreds of thousands of borrowers in trial modifications have yet to receive a final answer after many months of waiting.

To illustrate the performance of the servicers in the program, we’ve created an interactive breakdown of the data. There, you can see how bad the logjam is at each one.

Last month, we reported that approximately 100,000 homeowners had been stuck in trials for longer than six months and some homeowners had been stuck in trial modifications for as long as 10 months. That hasn’t changed – in fact, the numbers continue to worsen.

According to a ProPublica analysis of the new data, approximately 150,000 homeowners have been in a trial for longer than six months. The trials are supposed to last only three months – time for the homeowners to turn in all their financial documentation and demonstrate an ability to make the lower monthly payments.

Your Bailout Update: $315 Billion in the Red

2010-03-08T12:40:54-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - March 8, 2010 12:40 pm EDT

After shrinking for several months, taxpayer exposure to the bailout jumped in February, due to Fannie Mae’s receiving another $15.3 billion.

The toll stands at $315.3 billion. That number accounts for not only the bailout money still outstanding, but also the revenue that the government has collected from recipients. Included in that revenue is $1.5 billion the Treasury Department received last week for its auction of Bank of America’s common stock warrants. Altogether, the government made a profit of about $4.6 billion through its investment in Bank of America.

Check Out Our New Loan Mod Page

2010-03-08T09:18:46-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - March 8, 2010 9:18 am EDT

Attention, bookmarks! We’ve collected all of our coverage of the government’s mortgage modification program into one place. You can also find our interactive charts showing how well—or poorly—each mortgage servicer has been performing in the program.

Check it out.

The Story So Far on the Gov’t Loan Mod Program

2010-03-05T10:29:12-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - March 5, 2010 10:29 am EDT

We’ve created a resource page on the government’s loan modification program that puts all of our reporting in one place. Take a look. For those looking for a rundown, below is our summary of the program and the problems it has encountered.

The administration’s foreclosure prevention program began operation last April. The $75 billion program, called Making Home Affordable, focuses on reducing the monthly mortgage payments of struggling homeowners.

Mortgages that are owned or guaranteed by government wards Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae are automatically eligible. Other mortgages are eligible only if the servicer has signed a contract with the Treasury Department. More than 100 servicers have signed up. Mortgage servicers are the companies that specialize in collecting payments and handling individual accounts; they are frequently subsidiaries of banks, but sometimes are stand-alone companies.

And The World’s Longest Trial Mod Is…

2010-02-25T10:17:13-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 25, 2010 10:17 am EDT

Earlier this month, we asked our readers to tell us if they’d been stuck in a trial modification in the government’s foreclose prevention program for half a year or longer. Trial periods are designed to last only three months, after which mortgage servicers are supposed to either give homeowners a permanent mod or drop them from the program.

While homeowners in trial modifications have had the benefit of seeing their monthly payments drop (by an average of $522), there are adverse consequences when a trial drags on, not the least of which is the stress and fear of homeowners not knowing whether they’ll be able to keep their homes.

Hundreds of readers wrote in. And the longest mod turned out to be just about the longest possible: Marlene Colon of Tinton Falls, N.J., and Deb Franklin of Airville, Pa. both first received trial mods starting in May, in the first few weeks of the program. That means they’ve been waiting nearly 10 months to find out whether they will be getting permanent modifications.

Chase and Other Servicers Leave Many in Loan Mod Limbo; Treasury Threatens Penalties

2010-02-24T12:30:01-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 24, 2010 12:30 pm EDT

About 97,000 homeowners in the government’s mortgage modification program have been stuck in a trial period for over six months. Most of them, about 60,000, have their mortgages with a single mortgage servicer, JPMorgan Chase.

Trial periods are designed to last only three months, after which mortgage servicers are supposed to either give homeowners a permanent modification or drop them from the program. According to a ProPublica analysis, about 475,000 homeowners have been in a trial modification for longer than three months.

While the Treasury Department has so far allowed servicers to stretch the trials without repercussions, the government issued little-noticed guidelines in late December, warning that lenience will end at the end of this month. Servicers will have to clear out their backlogs, and those that don’t abide by the guidelines could face “financial penalties,” said a Treasury spokeswoman. But Treasury has been vague on how big those penalties will be.

New Data: See the Mortgage Mod Logjam for Each Servicer

2010-02-18T13:41:16-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 18, 2010 1:41 pm EDT

The logjam of people stuck in trial modifications continues. Data released by the Treasury Department on Wednesday shows that the number of trial mods that have become permanent jumped in January, but the overall number is still just a small percentage of the number of borrowers who’ve begun the trials.

To illustrate the performance of the servicers in the program, we’ve created an interactive breakdown of the data by servicer. There, you can see how bad the logjam is at each one.

New Bailout Page: How Deep Is the Gov’t in the Red?

2010-02-12T13:08:30-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 12, 2010 1:08 pm EDT

Since the bailout began in October 2008, we’ve tried to keep you up to date on just how deep in the red the government is. Now we’ve launched a special page of our site just for that purpose.

Our bailout database tracks every dollar and every recipient. Our summary page gives an overview not only of how much money has gone out the door, but also how much the government has reaped in revenue.

If you check it out, you’ll see that, cumulatively — we track both the TARP and the separate bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the bailouts are at $306 billion net outstanding. We arrive at that number by accounting not only for the bailout money that has been returned, but also for the revenue that the government has received as a result of its investments and loans: dividends, interest, fees and warrant proceeds.

TARP Watchdog Launches Audit of Bailout Contracts

2010-02-09T12:32:08-05:00

by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 9, 2010 12:32 pm EDT

The Treasury Department has spent more than $159 million paying financial companies and legal firms to help the government dole out TARP funds. We at ProPublica have learned that the special inspector general for the TARP (SIGTARP), Neil Barofsky, has started an audit of how Treasury chose the companies and whether the government is being billed fairly for the work.

The audit was launched at the request of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Coburn’s spokesman, John Hart, said a particular concern was that Treasury has redacted the labor rates from the contracts it has posted online. Treasury has hired some top law firms where partners can charge as much as $1,000 an hour, according to a 2009 billing survey by the National Law Journal.