Truth in Foreclosure

Regardless of whether or not you have a Freddie Mac loan you’re trying to get modified, you know servicers are way understaffed to effectively help the tens of thousands of homeowners they hear from every week.

Everyone knows the servicers need more help…and now Freddie Mac is doing something to address the problem according to a recent press release.

As part of its support for President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program, Freddie Mac today announced on July 24th that it made an agreement with Home Retention Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Lender Services, Inc., to help several regional servicers process thousands of additional applications for Home Affordable Modifications.

Specifically, Home Retention Services will assess the eligibility of delinquent borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages for Home Affordable Modifications or other possible workouts and process borrower financial information for the servicers’ review and approval.

“By using Home Retention Services’ staff and resources we can ease some of the pressures on our servicers’ staff while helping more borrowers pursue a mortgage workout,” said Ingrid Beckles, senior vice president of default asset management at Freddie Mac.  “Today’s announcement builds on Freddie Mac’s strategy to improve the borrower experience when seeking a mortgage workout and our commitment to the Making Home Affordable program’s success.”

This means that any servicer that services Freddie Mac loans can reach out for some additional help in the most time-consuming part of the effort…collecting all the paperwork and figuring out whether or not you are eligible for a Home Affordable Modification.

Understandably, though, the new company can only take referrals from servicers…you cannot call them directly to ask for help.  This is because they don’t have access to your account information until your servicer provides it to them through Freddie Mac.  It also allows Freddie Mac to control how their services are being used and monitor their effectiveness better.

So What’s It Mean for You?

So while the effort should help the overall backlog for Freddie Mac loans, it may or may not help you specifically.  How will you know?

Potentially eligible borrowers identified by a participating Freddie Mac servicer will receive a letter from Freddie Mac asking them to call Home Retention Services using a proprietary toll-free number. The letters will be specially formatted and include unique borrower PIN numbers to protect borrowers from counterfeits produced by fraud artists.

Home Retention Services will work with the borrower, assess their eligibility for a Home Affordable Modification, complete the documentation and income gathering processes, and advise the borrower of their proposed modified payment.

Home Retention Services will forward the completed package to the servicer for final approval. The borrower’s Home Affordable Modification trial period begins once the servicer approves the modification and receives the borrower’s check for the new monthly mortgage amount.

Home Retention Services will also advise borrowers of other Freddie Mac workout options if they don’t qualify for Making Home Affordable.

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