Chase OKs 138,000 Trial Mortgage Modifications
Follow on 
In what may be the largest foreclosure relief effort reported to date, Chase says it has approved 138,000 trial mortgage modifications through the Making Home Affordable program. Chase absorbed Washington Mutual last year, a major source of option ARMs. In total, Chase services about 10.3 million loans.
“We have made terrific progress since April 6 in helping families with trial modifications by ramping up our capacity through hiring people, adding office space and investing in technology,” says Charlie Scharf, head of Retail Financial Services at JPMorgan Chase & Co. ”We also clearly understand that many more families are anxious about their homes and need to hear from us as quickly as possible. We are committed to do whatever is necessary to help homeowners who qualify for these programs.”
The Making Home Affordable Program
Chase says it first determines whether struggling homeowners qualify for this program and already has approved 87,100 trial modifications and that 44,100 of these customers have made their first modified payment.
Notice that barely 50 percent of the trial modification borrowers have made even one payment under the trial programs. This may mean that a huge number of borrowers recently qualified and so the figures do not reflect their first payment, or — perhaps — a large number of borrowers in the trial program have not made any payments.
For borrowers facing financial hardship, the program seeks to reduce mortgage payments for principal, interest, property taxes and hazard insurance to 31 percent of their gross income, usually by reducing the interest rate or extending the length of the loan.
Chase also says that for borrowers facing financial hardship, the program seeks to reduce mortgage payments for principal, interest, property taxes and hazard insurance to 31 percent of their gross income, usually by reducing the interest rate or extending the length of the loan.
Chase’s Modification Program
This program is used for loans that do not qualify for the Making Home Affordable Program. Chase has approved 50,900 trial modifications, and 9,500 of them have already made their first modified payment.
Both workout programs require the borrower to make three modified payments in full and on time and to submit additional documentation, including income verification, so that the modifications can become permanent.
In the last three months, there have been more than 1.9 million visits to Chase’s www.chase.com/myhome website, according to the company. The site provides information to help struggling homeowners, including downloadable applications for mortgage modifications.
© Copyright 