Bank of America Reports 21,000 Permanent Home Affordable Modifications Completed

CALABASAS, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America has completed nearly 21,000 mortgage modifications under the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to the bank's latest monthly progress report to the Department of Treasury.

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"We are in a position to show strong results in completion of permanent HAMP modifications as we move into spring," said Jack Schakett, loss mitigation strategies executive for Bank of America Home Loans. "We have a strong pipeline of modifications in the trial payment period, under review for conversion to permanent status, and out for final signature."

HAMP has become the centerpiece of Bank of America's aggressive response to the incidence of homeowners having difficulty making mortgage payments due to the economic conditions. However, the bank's homeownership retention efforts were well underway prior to implementation of HAMP last year, and the company continues to rely on proprietary programs to modify loans for homeowners who do not qualify for the government initiative. From January 2008 through last month, Bank of America completed more than 500,000 mortgage modifications under its own programs.  

When the government releases its monthly report on HAMP progress by all participating mortgage servicers, Bank of America will show 20,666 permanent HAMP modifications, up from 12,761 a month earlier. Another 22,303 additional permanent HAMP modifications are pending, awaiting the customers' notarized signatures on their modified loan documents to finalize the process.

Bank of America leads the mortgage servicing industry with more than 240,000 active trial modifications under HAMP. Added to the more than 520,000 HAMP and non-HAMP completed modifications, 760,000 Bank of America Home Loans customers have had the opportunity to modify their mortgages since January 2008.

Bank of America is also preparing systems for implementation of two additional components of the government's Making Home Affordable program. The bank was the first servicer and remains the only major bank to sign an agreement to participate in the Home Affordable second lien modification program. In addition, the bank will participate in the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA), which provides streamlining of the short sale process to give customers who can't afford to keep their home an alternative to foreclosure. HAFA is similar to a cooperative short sale program that Bank of America has been testing for several months.

Customers of Bank of America Home Loans who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments or are in imminent danger of becoming delinquent on payments will find information about possible HAMP assistance at http://homeloanhelp.bankofamerica.com.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 53 million consumer and small business relationships with 6,000 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 29 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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SOURCE Bank of America