….the new “Hope for Homeowners” program launched at the beginning of October was expected to help hundreds of thousands of households refinance their loans. But fewer than 100 borrowers ”“ in the entire nation ”“ applied for help from the program all last month.
I know of one owner who contacted Chase about the Hope program. The response was a laugh.
Many of us who have looked at all the mortgage help legislation have been disappointed that there were no “teeth” in them. The bulk of the stabilization is coming from direct loan modification negotiations. This is also the approach being recommended by Sec. Paulson, who is speaking as I write. The problem is that lenders have been slow to embrace this approach. But Paulson specifically approved of FDIC chief Bair’s model with Indy Mac.