California Real Estate Sales

Lenders and loan servicers participating in HAFA must sign a servicer participation agreement with Fannie Mae — the program administrator and financial agent representing the United States in this case — to participate in HAMP by October 3, 2010 (the previous deadline was December 31, 2009. This was updated March 26, 2010)1 Therefore, most lenders are participating and those who are not have the opportunity to at any time. Lenders are developing comprehensive programs in order to prepare for the expected flood of applications for short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure that HAFA will unleash.  

Bank of America
  

• Bank of America announced in March its commitment to participate in HAFA when it activates. It has been preparing for a more streamlined process for months though its support of HAMP
• Bank of America’s short sale processor Equator announced the launch of a brand-new best practices software workflow solutions directly related to HAFA2
• Bank of America’s HAFA website gives homeowners details on their support of the program

Citibank  

• Citibank is participating in HAMP, which is a requirement for participating in HAFA
• CitiMortgage has launched a pilot Foreclosure Alternatives Program that assists its borrowers in avoiding foreclosure by offering a deed-in-lieu that allows homeowners to remain in their homes for six months after they agree to sign over their property deeds to CitiMortgage. The pilot program offers relocation counseling and a minimun of $1,000 in relocation assistance. Currently the program is available in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio.3

JP Morgan Chase  

• Chase has announced their support of HAFA and posted a Short Sale Information Packet on their website

GMAC Financial Services  

• GMAC has started a program to preemptively contact borrowers who are not eligible for loan modifications under HAMP and offering alternatives through HAFA and claims a three-day turnaround on short sale applications4

Wachovia  

• Wachovia is participating in HAMP, which is a requirement for participating in HAFA

Wells Fargo  

• Wells Fargo is participating in HAMP, which is a requirement for participating in HAFA
• Wells Fargo has been ramping up efforts to assist homeowners by actively contacting those who are facing hardships5
• Wells Fargo announced on April 14, 2010 their support of HAFA and ongoing support for foreclosure avoidance programs. Wells Fargo has more than 17,400 U.S. staff focused on home retention and foreclosure avoidance.6

NATIONAL PARTICIPATING SERVICERS  

Servicers that participate in HAFA are also participating in HAMP. For a full list of servicers participating in HAMP, visit Making Home Affordable’s Participating Servicers List.Below is a list of the Non-GSE Participants in HAMP7

Last updated: 17 May 2010
  

Sources: 

1. Making Home Affordable. Supplemental Directive 09-09 “Background” p. 1 (2010): https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/hafa/sd0909r.pdf
2. PR Newswire. “Equator Launches HAFA Solution” (2010): http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equator-launches-hafa-solution-88226552.html
3. Citigroup Inc. “Citi to Pilot Foreclosure Alternatives Program to Help Distressed Borrowers” (2010): https://www.citimortgage.com/Mortgage/misc/ForeclosureAlternativesProgramPressRelease.pdf
4. HousingWire. “Servicers Streamlining Short Sales as HAFA Nears” (2010): http://www.housingwire.com/2010/03/22/servicers-streamlining-short-sales-as-hafa-nears/
5. Wells Fargo. “Wells Fargo Doubles HAMP Completions and Continues Modification Efforts” (2010): https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/2010/20100217_hamp_updates
6. Wells Fargo. “Wells Fargo Continues to Deliver Modifications to More Borrowers and Focus on Home Retention Effort” (2010): https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/2010/20100414_HAMP
7. Making Home Affordable. “Servicer Perfomance Report Through April 2010″ (2010): http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/April%20MHA%20Public%20051710%20FINAL.pdf

Bank of America said it approved another 24,000 mortgage payment reductions in April, bringing its total effort under the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program to 56,400 borrowers offered full-term assistance.

But the bank cautioned that it is seeing the beginning of a decrease in the number of active trial modifications, in part because of stricter HAMP requirements.

New rules requiring financial information before a borrower can enter the trial modification period “will slow the inflow of new trial modifications.”

Bank of America claimed the most active trail modifications as of HAMP’s March update with more than 283,000. Wells Fargo was second with nearly 145,000. But Bank of America’s share of those eligible that are in active modifications was only 26 percent, compared to 38 percent for Wells Fargo and 37 percent for JPMorgan Chase.

Under HAMP guidelines, Bank of America is also notifying customers who did not meet eligibility requirements for HAMP or who did not meet the requirements of their trial period plan.

The bank is mailing letters to thousands of these customers, telling them they are not eligible to complete a permanent HAMP modification.

“We are letting customers know that we may explore other homeownership retention options, depending on individual circumstances and investor guidelines,” said Jack Schakett, credit loss mitigation strategies executive for Bank of America Home Loans.

The bank said it has completed a total of 600,000 modifications in foreclosure mitigation efforts since January 2008 “through all available programs.”

On April 5, the federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) went into effect with the goal of accelerating short sales by providing incentives and guidelines for short sales and deed-in-lieu of foreclosures.

Watch this video “Understanding Federal Short Sales Rules: HAFA (Revised, Apr. 5)” from National Association of REALTORS®

It is important to explore all of your options to avoid foreclosure but often there comes a time to end the stress. Watch this video to hear the benefits to cutting your losses and begin living the rest of your life.

With so many people having trouble making their mortgage payment or possibly facing foreclosure it is a shame that there are scams designed to prey upon these people at such a difficult point in their lives.  Watch this video to find out how you can avoid falling victim to foreclosure scams.

If you are having difficulty making your payments and want to explore your options at loan modification or short sale complete the form below.