Deborah Sherman is one of those homeowners who are waiting for their turn on the loan modification. A day on March 4 before it was proclaimed, she applied for the said government program.
Since then, all she heard from Chase, her loan servicer, is: the process could take up to 90 days. Until now, she is still waiting.
Sherman's story is not one-of-a-kind. The government program last June started uncontrollably because a large number of homeowners all around the country have been overwhelming the staff by jamming their phone lines. Because of the confusion and delays regarding eligibility requirements, disappointments build up among homeowners and housing counselors.
During the latest press briefing, President Obama expressed his frustration with the said government program. He said that the mortgage program implemented helped a lot of people in mortgage modification, however it had not been keeping pace even a lot of foreclosures are already taking place. Because of that reason and due to the fact that a lot of complaints from the home owners are already attacking him, he was asking his staff to put into practice more forceful actions.
At a recent congressional hearing, the president's remarks were echoed by Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel. Warren oversees the Treasury Department's response to the financial crisis. She also said that the program set off for a couple of weeks and they are now taking fast actions on it.
"I think it's important that the public realize they don't have to have missed a payment on their mortgage to get help. If they see that they have a problem ... they should get in touch with their servicer" says Warren.
A lot of homeowners have already applied for loan modifications with their respective servicers but are still getting the same response as Sherman and the waiting time takes longer than expected. As the processing time of these modification requests get longer and longer, most trouble homeowners result to giving up and making foreclosure news rise.
Frustrations towards the program were expressed also by several federal officials. They said, "People who are engaged in this program must need to perform better job so that expectations of the public will be met."
As long as these needs for loan modifications are met, we may expect to hear more foreclosure news as more and more troubled homeowners fail to salvage their properties.
