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Byline: Brian Collins
Washington-Hope Now servicers picked up the pace in the second quarter and completed 220,100 loan modifications, up 30% from the first quarter.
Loan modifications for subprime loans jumped from 122,100 in the first quarter to 164,200 in the second quarter, while modifications involving prime mortgages rose from 48,100 to 55,100 over the same period.
But the servicers could show better results and prevent more foreclosures if they could get the second-lien holders to cooperate when the first lien is modified or refinanced.
To encourage that cooperation, the Hope Now servicers have agreed to re-subordinate the second lien and not put it in a worse position when the first lien is modified or refinanced.
"That is a big commitment because sometimes all the parties have not been communicating well and working together to make that happen," said Hope Now executive director Faith Schwartz.
In distressed markets like California and Florida where house prices have declined by 25% to 40%, the equity in the property no longer supports a second lien.
Source: HighBeam Research, Hope Now Servicing Picks Up.(Financial report)