The Treasury Department reported Monday that its federal program for preventing foreclosures advanced 20,000 loan modifications in December, while the number of re-defaults continued to rise.
In the latest report on progress in the Making Home Affordable Program, the Treasury said that the number of active permanent modifications increased slightly at the end of December to 521,630, from just 504,648 in November. At the same time, participating institutions have canceled 58,020 permanent modifications and 734,509 trial modifications. Under the program, loan workouts are canceled when a borrower misses three consecutive monthly payments.
The Treasury also reported that lenders have delayed many foreclosure actions, leading to a lower number of foreclosure activity in December compared with the previous month. But the administration suggested that decline may be temporary as lenders revise and submit foreclosure paperwork in the coming months.
