(TheNicheReport) -- According to the United States Treasury Department, mortgage lenders and servicing entities have been dragging their feet with regard to loan modifications. This has in turn caused many Americans to fall into foreclosure, despite the availability of relief provided by the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The admonishment by the Treasury has prompted some banks to point their fingers right back at the government over the ill-conceived HAMP.
The Failure of HAMP
The battle against foreclosures in the U.S. began with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which was signed by former President George W. Bush in haste shortly after the collapse of the credit markets on Wall Street. The Obama administration has been a strong supporter of HAMP and other programs designed to curb the avalanche of foreclosures.
HAMP was designed to help up to four million homeowners in the U.S. by providing banks with funds, guarantees and guidelines to reach out to struggling borrowers. Since HAMP was enacted, only about a million mortgages have been modified, and in that time many families have lost their homes.
The Treasury believes that the banks have been slow to implement HAMP and quick to process foreclosures. The proof in these claims can be traced to the events that resulted in the National Foreclosure Settlement Agreement of 2012, and now many banks are judicially mandated to offer relief to their mortgage borrowers.
The Banks Strike Back
HAMP can be seen as a monumental task for the mortgage lenders and servicing companies to carry out, but the Treasury maintains that they have the potential to augment their operations and meet the challenge presented by HAMP. For their part, bank executives have sharply criticized HAMP as being too complex, capricious and ineffective.
The banks also point to the harsh economic conditions as being too problematic for HAMP and other loan modification programs to implement, namely factors such as unemployment, debt ratios, lack of reserves, consumer credit delinquencies, etc.
What Borrowers Can Do
The finger-pointing between the Treasury and the banks does not benefit homeowners at all, but the fact remains that loan modifications are still the best option for families to avoid foreclosures and stay in their homes. Under the provisions of HAMP, the banks are supposed to reach out to their borrowers. If banks are overwhelmed and fail to contact borrowers before it is too late, homeowners should seek assistance.
HAMP is not the only option available to borrowers. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers borrowers counseling with regard to HAMP and other options that can help them stay in their homes.
