Bank Of America Boasts About Its Poor HAMP Performance

Bank of America executive Rebecca Mairone, in response to calls for the federal government to put the nation's largest bank into receivership, is boasting that Bank of America has performed well under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program.

"Bank of America has completed nearly 700,000 permanent modifications including more than 85,000 under the government's HAMP program -- the most of any servicer," writes Mairone, after noting that 85 percent of its seriously delinquent loans came from Countrywide, which it acquired "at a time when failure of that company would have been devastating to the economy, the markets, and millions of homeowners."

As of the Treasury Department's most recent report on servicer performance under HAMP, Bank of America had 78,905 permanent modifications -- indeed more than any other servicer. But Treasury estimates that the bank has a pool of 375,168 eligible 60-day-plus delinquent loans -- far more than any other servicer.

That means Bank of America has granted HAMP mods to about 21 percent of potential eligible borrowers. The other Big Four banks have done better: Citigroup has granted permanent modifications to 44 percent of potentially eligible borrowers. For Wells Fargo, it's 37 percent, and for JPMorgan Chase, it's 32 percent.

HAMP is supposed to give borrowers who are in default or at risk of default a chance to modify their mortgages and reduce monthly payments, usually by $500. Eligible borrowers are put into three-month trial modifications, and if they make their payments the trial mod is supposed to become "permanent" for five years. But HAMP is notorious for lengthy trials that confuse borrowers and in some cases make their situations worse.

Of the 76,500 HAMP trials that have dragged on for longer than six months, 32,444 -- or 42 percent -- belong to Bank of America.

Forty-two percent of the 524,695 homeowners who've had their trial modifications canceled by one of the eight largest servicers have been granted an alternate modification. That's the case for just 26 percent of Bank of America's trial cancellations. And the Big Eight have granted alternate mods to 30 percent of people rejected from HAMP trials. Only 13 percent of Bank of America's HAMP trial rejects have had such luck.

"We don't claim perfection and will address mistakes quickly when they arise," Mairone wrote, "but Bank of America is doing all we can to keep people in their homes, or ensure a fair, consistent process if that is not possible."

Comments

[JoeLeland]

06:17 PM on 11/01/2010

Louis T. McFadden, who was the Chairman of the House Banking Committee back in the 1930s. In describing the FED, he remarked in the Congressional Record, House pages 1295 and 1296 on June 10, 1932:

"Mr. Chairman, we have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal reserve banks. The Federal Reserve Board, a Government Board, has cheated the Government of the United States and he people of the United States out of enough money to pay the national debt. The depredations and the iniquities of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal reserve banks acting together have cost this country enough money to pay the national debt several times over. This evil institution has impoverished and ruined the people of the United States; has bankrupted itself, and has practically bankrupted our Government. It has done this through the maladministration of that law by which the Federal Reserve Board, and through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it".

[teoc]

04:05 AM on 10/31/2010

"I look at subprime lending and I see the American dream in action."

—Phil Gramm, former Republican Senator from Texas, former chief economic adviser to John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign

[Twayn]

02:44 PM on 10/31/2010

Also co-sponsor of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. Those two pieces of deregulation were the impetus for the Wall Street casino culture and the collapse of the U.S. economy in 2008.

[ChasG]

02:51 PM on 10/31/2010

They were among the many government actions that did not cause the current recession, but most certainly made it much worse than it otherwise would have been.

[ChasG]

02:48 PM on 10/31/2010

The problem with the American dream is just that-- it's a dream.

Now, we have been rudely awakened, "hoist by our own petard" as the Bard would say.

[pforeclosure]

12:19 AM on 10/31/2010

The attitude by the banks today stems from the unrestricted fraud that our government has allowed to flourish, and this applies to both Dems and Reps, there is no distinction. This fraud was discussed in detail by a Nobel prize winning economist: http://preventingforeclosure.org/news/beyond-foreclosures-in-time-for-halloween-the-fraud-that-will-haunt-you-and-your-children/

[ChasG]

12:45 AM on 10/31/2010

Don't waste your time on this link; it's got a few select facts, but it is mostly supposition and conjecture at this point, which may or may not prove to be true in the long run. I certainly would not consider it an independently verifiable source for the conclusions to which it leaps.

[Simone Hill]

11:07 PM on 10/30/2010

Remember that Republicans preach fiscal discipline.

This is the party that took a record budget surplus and turned it into a record budget deficit.

This is the party that started a needless trillion dollar war in Iraq and cut taxes in a time of war.

Remember that Republicans consider tax dollars spent on AMERICAN CITIZENS to be a waste of taxpayer money.

This is the party that blocked health care for our nation's 9-11 first responders.

This is the party that still wants to put the torch on Social Security and Medicare.

Remember that Republicans believe in state rights UNLESS a state passes a law that doesn't coincide with their narrow point of view.

This is the party that wanted to add a "Marriage Protection Amendment" to the Constitution.

This is the party that opposes a state's right to set car emmissions standards.

Remember how Republican ears are deaf to the screams of the people yet hear the whispers of Big Business.

This is the party that was in power when residents remained in New Orleans without water, food or shelter days after Hurricane Katrina had passed.

This is the party that defended tax breaks for corporations that moved their operations and your jobs overseas and brought us the Wall Street Bailout.

Remember...

This is a party that, given a choice between Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, would choose Ronald Reagan in a heartbeat.

"I Remember" PSA on YouTube: http://bit.ly/9OJ8iF

On November 2, 2010 - REMEMBER!

[T4]

07:27 PM on 10/30/2010

HAMP is an example of how Obama and the banks are hand in hand with the total fraud of the big financial meltdown myth. This is one -- one -- example of how if there hadbeen a real meltdown any reasonable financial professional would nvere have pumped trillions into the megabnks over thelast two years. If one issue was mortgages - why didnlt Obama after we paid the banks off just have the all arbritrailylowertheir intwrest rates to say 4% in 1Q09. that's right Obama was the largest single shareholder in the emgabank while they looted the economy and he did nothing - HAMp is an example of total incompetence. You have the loan, you knwo it's a meginal loan but you don;t just lower therate it too see if it can be salvaged - you make people go through hoos and the diqualify them and then take their homes and wirte new loans for 4%. Do you see how this created the economic recession and Obama did it and maintains it now? This is only one example ofhow the banks have manufactured the biggest fraud in american history and Obama has backed them

[Kai-HK]

10:31 PM on 10/30/2010

Not an example of collusion between Obama and the Banks. If anything it shows the opposite; the problem with HAMP was that it was a politically-driven solution that did engage the commercial banks that were to implement it in its drafting. As a result, the banks are reluctant to implement the program. In any event, it is their money and their (un-foreclosed upon) assets. If they do not want to take advantage of HAMP that is their prerogative, not the mortgagee.

Kai

[ChasG]

12:55 AM on 10/31/2010

Kai-HK, I agree with you.
At this point in time over 640,000 homeowners have benefited from mortgage modifications like HAMP.
TARP was not about collusion between banks and government either. To the contrary, banks hated TARP and didn't want it because they had to repay it with interest, and 75% of it has been repaid with interest so far. T4 calling this "pumping trillions into the megabanks" is making a false comment, probably unknowlingly. The difficulty is when one starts to make a point from a falsehood everything that follows is pure confabulation-- make believe, which begs the question who is trying to make us believe what here?

[WakeUp2021]

04:14 PM on 10/30/2010

Bush passes the American Dream Act 2003 in order to cause housing market collapse.

"You don't have to have a lousy home for first-time home buyers. If you put your mind to it, the first-time home buyer, the low-income home buyer can have just as nice a house as anybody else."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8

[ChasG]

12:58 AM on 10/31/2010

This is Bush speaking for himself, so to that extent it is factual, and it is worthwhile listening for those interested in how and when the housing crisis started.

[nativelasvegan]

01:15 PM on 10/30/2010

Let's see a list of the 700,000 people who have received permanent mods. Doubt they'd be able to produce that list. It's not confidential. Real property records are public information. Horror stories are all over the internet about BOA giving permanent mods and then after collecting payments for 6 months or so, rescinded the permanent mods. The permanent mod is an agreement that does not take precedence over the original deed of trust or mortgage. Most of the time, it is not recorded in the land records.

HAMP is a scam and let's just put an end to it instead of continuing to rewards banksters for lying to the Department of Sachs and receiving our taxpayer dollars in the form of incentives for successful mods.

[ChasG]

01:09 AM on 10/31/2010

US Treasury reports almost 500,000 permanent mods under HAMP alone. HAMP does not account for a large number of loan modifications. For example, Wells Fargo reported 89 percent of 556,868 trial and permanent loan modifications were non-HAMP.

There are many foreclosures that will be unaffordable because the homeowners simply cannot qualify for a home they cannot afford even with a reasonable mortgage modification. Every one of those could be called a "horror story," but blaming the banks for mortgage defaults is Winnie the Pooh logic at best.

HAMP has been a success, but it has probably reached most of the people who are qualified, so it is winding down with fewer and fewer applications each month now.

[Darts]

02:36 AM on 10/31/2010

Here's a refutation of your "Bank of America Is On The Square" theory from a page back in this very comments section, firsthand from a BOA borrower:

jbnewport 04:50 PM on 10/29/2010
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Bank of America is totally dysfunctional and incompetent to modify anything, all departments are out of control and highly chaotic. I am about to retain an attorney and because of the run around I am getting from Bank of America. It is really much worse than a runaround, it is more like customer abuse. I have tried since August of 2008 to work with Bank of America. I knew this was coming since I was in a 5 year option-arm, and my business income went down 50%, and $347,000 home is now worth $185,000. But, I still have income, a job, and a 750 credit rating, and I can to pay modified payments.
I started in the summer of 2008 contacting the bank about the coming reset in my mortgage.
There is hardly a way to describe the hours I have spent on the phone, call centers in India,
the disconnects after waiting 30 minutes, the multiple faxes with my personal info, all going into a black hole.

I have now been in the "trial" for 7 months, and they have reported me 120 days late to credit agencies. Their program was a SCAM to put people into "pre-foreclosure."

[AlsoSarah]

06:45 PM on 10/31/2010

As a HAMP victim I can attest that HAMP is a Scam. After a year and ahalf of a "three month trial", making payments on time every month, I was finally offered a permanent mod in Aug, but have yet to see any final papers or get any answers. All I get is can you pay the enormously padded bill by BoA. After all this time of them adding fees, late fees, charges and balances, still nothing. They are still reporting me delinquent to the credit bureaus. My credit is completely ruined. All I was looking for in a modification was bringing my mortgage down from 41% of my income to 31% and perhaps a lower interest rate. A huge scam.

[ChasG]

01:10 AM on 10/31/2010

One of my sources for these facts: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-25/u-s-mortgage-modifications-slow-as-fewer-borrowers-qualify-treasury-says.html

[Changeizgood]

10:33 AM on 10/30/2010

So all the hoodwinked robos signatures will be put into foreclosure, because your reps who invested in the shady dealings?

Waht a crook. They get to over-appraise, raise the tax ratio on the jacked up housing price, put it into a loan for people on one price for two consecutive years, and then rob them blind with the clause of double price after the two years.

SO DAMNED CROOKED AND HEARTLESS.

[ChasG]

01:12 AM on 10/31/2010

Got any facts to back this up?

[Darts]

02:23 AM on 10/31/2010

I did what he just described for a living for two years. It's called the state of Florida.

[Simone Hill]

02:36 AM on 10/30/2010

Remember how the Republicans turned a record budget surplus into a record budget deficit and spent trillions of dollars on the war in Iraq.

This is the party that preached fiscal discipline and then cut taxes in time of war.

Remember that Republicans consider tax dollars spent on American citizens to be a waste of taxpayer money.

This is the party that still wants to put the torch to Social Security and Medicare.

Remember that Republicans believe in state rights UNLESS a state passes a law that doesn't coincide with their narrow point of view.

This is the party that wanted to add a "Marriage Protection Amendment" to the Constitution.

Remember how Republican ears are deaf to the screams of the people yet hear the whispers of Big Business.

This is a party that, given a choice between Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, would choose Ronald Reagan in a heartbeat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlBOv8m_Xa8

On November 2nd, remember!!!

[Inkeesgirl]

02:26 AM on 10/30/2010

Bof A probably purchased those loans for 15-20 cents on the dollar. Of course, they collect 100% from the borrower. That's why they were so anxious to get into the mortgage servicing business- it's where the money is. If a borrow defaults, they can sell the home at a foreclosure sale at 50 to 60 cents on the dollar, without having to bother with loan modification and pesky, unreliable homeowners.
Loan modification is window dressing, as far as the banks are concerned.

[ChasG]

01:15 AM on 10/31/2010

You're going to base an argument on "B of A probably...". PROBABLY?
Try starting with some independently verifiable facts, then begin drawing possible conclusions, and we'll talk some more, okay?

[dblohangel]

12:42 AM on 11/01/2010

BOA definitely purchased the loans for 15 to 20 cents on the dollar...is that better? lol!

[chasmader]

09:27 AM on 11/01/2010

Chas--

You obviously have not had to personally deal with BofA's loss mitigation department.

[Alexander DeWolf]

12:20 AM on 10/30/2010

Credit Unions can be just as bad as commercial banks. My car was repossessed by a local credit union after I was only 2 months behind. They kept telling me to call back to renegotiate the loan as I only had 1 year left on payments. Next thing I know the car is being taken. Next thing I noticed was closure of the credit union. So beware of Credit Unions as well.

[Suzeeq]

12:03 AM on 10/30/2010

I doubt any of their loan mods have modified the principal and adjusting interest is a piece meal offering to a home owner. They have had years to get organized and still the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

[itolduso]

11:19 PM on 10/30/2010

"They have had years to get organized and still the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing." -Suzeeq ********************** One hand's stroking Congress ......while the other's squashing us

[dblohangel]

12:44 AM on 11/01/2010

Less than 1% of loan mods i nvolve modification of the principle even though it's permissable by law.

[tangolas]

10:40 PM on 10/29/2010

DUmp Bank of America. GO local.

[Changeizgood]

10:45 AM on 10/30/2010

Bank of America = "Another of those American sounding names that do harm under OUR name.

Bank of Foreign investment should be their name.

We should demand a name change since they work for others.

THEY ARE THE KING OF CROOKS. CHARGES FOR MOVING YOUR SAVINGS TO CHECKING, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A FREE SERVICE, WHEN BRINGING YOUR ACCOUNT TO THEM.

They do not keep their promises, just like the Financial Institutions sworn to make the modifications. When the paperwork arrives at the banks with the amount modified, they look on a list of "tricky robo signatures, determine they don't want to deal with it and lose the paperwork, saying it's the process that is long. They don't honor their contract that WE Americans paid them to do, when WE put the law or program in.

THEY AND GOLDMAN $ACKS ARE CROOKS TO THE NTH POWER.

[ChasG]

01:22 AM on 10/31/2010

Pop fiction at its worst. Tell angry people what they want to hear so they'll stay angry. "Don't bother me with the facts" is the angry Tea Party way.

[cadawa]

08:31 PM on 10/29/2010

Her remarks only strengthen the arguement for putting B of A in receivership and pushing the dead wood like Marione overboard.
Gambling, fraud and lying, your balance sheet and stealing tax payers money is not "performing well".

[Changeizgood]

10:47 AM on 10/30/2010

I hope the shareholders are paying attention to those in charge of this fraud, and withdraw all their loot, before they risk it again. They have over 2 trillion on the books, yet won't invest in American jobs for the workers. I thought that was what a bank was for.

Oh, that's right. They're the guys that deceptively ruined American's credit ratings.

[ChasG]

01:28 AM on 10/31/2010

Banks aren't lending because businesses aren't borrowing. Businesses aren't borrowing because consumers aren't buying, so businesses aren't growing as much and aren't hiring as much either.

But this year we have seen the beginnings of a turn-around-- 1.6 million new jobs added to the economy from January through September of this year (seasonally adjusted). Hope audaciously springs eternal.

[ChasG]

01:25 AM on 10/31/2010

Got any independently verifiable facts about Bank of America "Gambling, fraud and lying, (manipulating their) balance sheet (or whatever you meant to say) and stealing taxpayers' money?" Some examples, please, for the sake of discussion?

[cadawa]

04:16 PM on 10/31/2010

Chas, do you work for B of A or Timmy Geithner?

[sdaflem]

07:11 PM on 10/29/2010

If you tell a lie long enough Bank of America people might believe it. Sounds like you're starting to believe your own PR.

[ChasG]

01:29 AM on 10/31/2010

If enough lies are told about Bank of America, people will start believing those lies as well.