Over 100,000 subprime and option only mortgage holders help by Bank of America.
Bank of America started a program to assist subprime and option-ARM mortgage holders, and the goal is to help them avoid a foreclosure. Many former Countrywide customers will be assisted by the program. To date over 100,000 qualified homeowners have avoided a foreclosure filing as a result of the National Homeownership Retention Program (NHRP). Just over the last 3 months about 31,000 people were helped, so the pace of the program is accelerating and gaining momentum.
The Bank of America NHRP is one of the most effective foreclosure prevention programs used by any bank or lender. However this is just one of the resources and options that BOA has for homeowners. They also offer the federal government Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), forbearance options, numerous types of modifications, and more. When you factor in all of the various options for families and individuals, combined these numerous programs have assisted over 600,000 homeowners.
What is the National Homeownership Retention Program?
It is an innovative program that provides loan modifications to people who originated their subprime or option-ARM mortgage from Countrywide. Bank of America acquired Countrywide in late 2008 and since that time has discontinued some loan products, and they are modifying others. It total, they expect that almost 400,000 borrowers may be eligible for some type of mortgage assistance.
Over the last 10 months, since BOA started contacting struggling homeowners, they have done the following:
- Over 145,000 customers were contacted and offered mortgage modifications.
- Out of the number contacted, almost 100,000 received mortgage help from the NHRP program. In total, BOA has lowered principal, interest due, and monthly payments by about $1.6 billion.
In addition to the modifications for Countrywide customers, about 20,000 other homeowners received help with their mortgage from the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program. These homeowners were provided trial mortgage modifications.
The data from BOA states that more than 19,500 other NHRP eligible borrowers entered trial mortgage modifications under the federal government's HAMP since the program was founded earlier this year. These numbers are updated as of through the end of the third quarter. The pace of people being contacted by Bank of America has increased as well. They are now reaching out to several thousand borrowers each and every week, to discuss the National Homeownership Retention Program, HAMP, and other options that may apply to someone’s financial situation. The program continues to gain momentum, and thousands of homes have been saved from the foreclosure process.
While BOA tries to assist as many people as possible, they also offer resources for people in which it just isn’t possible to come to an agreement as the homeowners financial situation is just to dire. So, for these homeowners, in addition to trying to find some type of loan modification that may work, the NHRP agreement can also provide them with relocation assistance, counseling, and other foreclosure relief programs. To date, Bank of America has provided almost $50 million in relocation assistance to those customers and tenants who reside in eligible properties that have gone to foreclosure, under terms of the agreement that is being offered.
In addition, if you took on a risky loan from Countrywide, and if soon after taking on the loan went into default, the bank is also offering about $150 million to participating state governments and their agencies, and the funds are to be used to provide foreclosure prevention programs as well as financial relief for eligible borrowers who went into default shortly after taking out a subprime or option-ARM and who subsequently lost their homes. Various communications, including phone calls and letters, were sent to those borrowers who are eligible for a relief payment from this program. These relief checks will start to be issued during the first 3 months of 2010.
If you took out a risky, option-ARM or subprime mortgage from Countrywide and are behind on the loan, contact Bank of America to ask how you get get foreclosure relief and assistance from the National Homeownership Retention Program.
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