Mortgage Modification: The "Good" and "Bad" Lenders -- July 2009 edition

A few days ago I wrote about the mortgage modification crisis, pointing out (as have so many others), that millions of people who desperately needed government help to stay in their homes weren't getting it.

Now, the government has released the first list of which servicers are at least attempting to modify loans. The report, formally titled the "Making Home Affordable Program Servicer Performance Report through July 2009," explains how banks are doing with HAMP -- the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. (Yes, I know it should be "Affordability;" I didn't title it).

The bad news? As USA Today reports, "Several Loan Servicers Have Not Modified a Single Mortgage"

Now some of these banks will note that they just signed contracts to get into the HAMP program -- but you know what? They knew the program was coming, and it's pretty pressing business to keep people facing foreclosure in their homes.

The good news? Some of the big banks are actually in there pitching (JP Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage, take a bow; PNC, get back in line!).

So here, from the list that's current through July, the report card. The numbers in parentheses are the percentage of loans eligible for modification that have been moved into trial modification:

HAMP Heroes

1. Lake National Bank, Mentor, Ohio (100%) [Okay, that's one loan, but a gold star is still a gold star]
2. Wescom Central Credit Union, Pasadena, California (28%)
3. Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage Company, The Villages, Florida (27%)
4. Saxon Mortgage Services, Irving, Texas (25%)
5. Aurora Loan Services, Littleton, Colorado (21%)
6. GMAC Mortgage, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania (20%)
7. JP Morgan Chase, New York, New York (20%)
8. Residential Credit Solutions, Fort Worth, Texas (20%)

1. American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc., Columbia, Maryland
2. Farmers State Bank, West Salem, Ohio
3. First Bank, St. Louis, Missouri
4. Home Loan Services Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
5. Mission Federal Credit Union, San Diego, California
6. MorEquity, Inc., Evansville, Illinois
7. Mortgage Center LLC, Southfield, Michigan
8. PNC Bank, National Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
9. Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union, West Lafayette, Indiana
10. RG Mortgage Corporation, San Juan, Puerto Rico
11. Shore Bank, Chicago, Illinois
12. Wachovia Bank, Charlotte, North Carolina

• Mortgage Modification: The Latest Report Card on "Good" and "Bad" Lenders


• Three Million Mortgages Still Need to be Modified