Bank of America homeowners seeking permanent modification assistance or a simple opportunity to participate in a Bank of America trial modification plan may be in a position where, if they do meet certain qualifications, this can be one route of foreclosure prevention that proves successful as we have recently seen more homeowners who are being reportedly grouped into the active permanent modification category within the federal home loan modification initiative, specifically with Bank of America. Obviously, increases in modifications not only indicate that positive results are being seen within a particular servicer’s efforts but within the program overall, despite the fact that there are still some hiccups that have led to homeowners struggling to find the foreclosure prevention they need in this area.
Yet, Bank of America was reportedly in a position where a substantial number of active permanent modifications were reported between August and September of 2011 as these modifications increased from 136,195 to 148,033. Homeowners who apply for these modifications are those who will have to apply for and qualify to be set within a trial modification plan, and upon meeting the requirements within a trial modification program, homeowners may benefit from a permanent modification that has been able to help some avoid foreclosure in the past.
Homeowners do need to remember and that there are no perfect modification programs, nor have servicers like Bank of America been able to escape criticism by homeowners, but Treasury Department ratings that have set certain benchmarks in the past are holding these financial institutions accountable in certain areas, despite the fact that there have been calls by many officials that more needs to be done. Obviously, Bank of America is not the only financial institution to see positive results in the area of modifications but they are not the only bank that has had problems when it comes to homeowners complaining about their experience, feeling they have been unjustly denied assistance, and also requesting that reviews are made of their application, in the hopes of getting the assistance they need.
Again, there are officials who want more benchmarks to be set and more fines and penalties levied by the Treasury Department when financial institutions do not adhere to these benchmarks nor provide assistance that will be helpful for the majority of homeowners, but homeowners with servicers like Bank of America do continue to see some benefits as active permanent modifications increase and, in many cases as well, there are more from modification plans being offered on a month-to-month basis.
While homeowners should never consider a modification to be their only opportunity for foreclosure prevention, and even these plans are not perfect when they have been given to homeowners, there are those who are finding that this particular route to foreclosure prevention, which again has been the starting point for many, has had its benefits, but homeowners are being urged to speak with housing counselors made available from the Making Home Affordable Program, if more information is needed on available options and how they may specifically qualify for foreclosure prevention assistance.
