As the number of homes facing foreclosure continues to rise, and as efforts to keep homeowners in their homes fail to keep pace, a Westchester County nonprofit housing counseling agency is trying a new approach.  On Thursday, June 3, in cooperation with Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino and Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Community Housing Innovations announced the “Fast Track Loan Modification” program.   The news conference, which was held at the White Plains Library, was attended by 2 homeowners who related the difficulties they are experiencing with the loan modification process.

The Fast Track Loan Modification program will allow homeowners to meet face to face with bankers capable of providing relief. The three-day event will be held at 190 East Post Road in White Plains, 4th floor offices adjacent to CHI on June 21st, 22nd and 23rd.  Over 100 homeowners with Bank of America and Countrywide loans in default will be scheduled for private settlement meetings.

Joining the agency as participants are Westchester County’s other three HUD-approved counseling agencies, including the Housing Action Council, Human Development Services of Westchester, and Westchester Residential Opportunities.  Putnam County Housing Corporation and Rockland Housing Action Coalition will also participate.  According to Alexander Roberts, Executive Director of Community Housing Innovations, “We thank the Bank of America for being the first to participate in this effort. We hope other banks will follow.  The goal in the next year is to meet with 500 homeowners at four events and keep as many of them as possible in their homes.” 

Millions of homeowners who have received notices of default and foreclosure currently spend months and months trying to obtain modifications of their mortgages under various federal programs, including the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).  Over one year ago, Congress allocated  $75 billion for this program to encourage banks to modify terms so homeowners could stay in their homes.  However, to date only $242 million—just 3.2%--has actually been spent.   And according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and HUD, banks have permanently modified fewer than 300,000 out of a total of 3.4 million eligible loans.

The banks are blamed for lost paper work, inconsistent advice, and failure to respond in a timely manner.  However, the banks complain that many homeowners fail to provide required documentation.

The CHI Fast Track Loan Modification Program deals with all of those issues and is designed to achieve large numbers of trial and permanent loan modifications quickly and efficiently.

According to County Executive Astorino, “Everyone loses when a home is foreclosed on -- the homeowner, the bank, the neighborhood and the surrounding community. The program announced today is part of our ongoing effort to help our residents one by one and in a timely fashion. Thank you to CHI and our HUD-certified agencies for what they do to help and thank you to Bank of America."

CHI asked if the Bank of America would send a team of loan specialists to meet with over 100 homeowners--one at a time--if the HUD-approved counseling agencies would insure that they had completed all of the required documentation.

The bank said it would.  With the help of an anonymous foundation, the Fast Track Loan Modification event was born and for this first pilot will serve homeowners in Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland Counties with Bank of America mortgages.

Homeowners facing foreclosure are asked to contact one of the HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies named above immediately and to submit their paperwork.  These agencies will assist the homeowner in applying for a trial or permanent modification free of charge.  CHI will forward the documentation to a special section at Bank of America that will work on modifying loan terms on an expedited basis. 

The Bank of America will send loan specialists to the Fast Track Loan Modification event in White Plains, who will write trial or permanent modifications, either on the spot or within a few days.  The bankers hope to meet with 120 homeowners individually for up to an hour to complete the processing.

Once the loan modifications are written, a second part of the program includes free follow-up training in financial literacy and budget counseling for one year to insure success.

Jerry Durham, Bank of America’s chief of Homeownership Preservation & Advocacy said, “We support this initiative and trust that it helps meet our goal of preventing foreclosure and allowing homeowners to stay in their homes.”

In order to maintain privacy, the meetings will be private, by appointment only.   However, the results of the meetings will be announced to insure transparency and determine if the new pilot is effective.

Foreclosure Prevention Counseling

Community Housing Innovations is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency that offers FREE one-on-one and group Foreclosure Prevention Counseling services. Attorney Peter Spino, CHI’s Senior Foreclosure Prevention Counselor, provides counseling and legal referrals to local residents in danger of losing their homes because of the current financial crisis. The program assists clients with the following mitigation options in order to prevent foreclosure: loan forebearance, loan modification, partial claim, short sale, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, and bankruptcy.

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Click Here for more information on NYS Foreclosure Process.