HAMP mortgage modifications become more popular in February

Mortgage modifications through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program are continuing to gain steam as a viable means to consolidate debt, as more homeowners stepped up and got involved with some form of a modification on February.

According to the latest Making Home Affordable report for February, the number of permanent mortgage modifications increased 45 percent during the month as now more than 170,000 homeowners have now received permanent modifications.

Additionally, 91,800 modifications are currently in the final stages of becoming permanent, have been approved by servicers, and only require the homeowner’s signature.

Of those modifications, Bank of America seems to be leading the way as it has been the source of more than 500,000 HAMP and non-HAMP modifications since January 2008.

In February, the banking institution saw the number of its modifications that became permanent increase to 20,666, almost 8,000 more than the 12,761 seen one month earlier.

"We are in a position to show strong results in completion of permanent HAMP modifications as we move into spring," said Jack Schakett, a loss mitigation strategies executive for Bank of America Home Loans. "We have a strong pipeline of modifications in the trial payment period, under review for conversion to permanent status, and out for final signature."