The Department of Labor, working with the Hope Now alliance, has developed an online tool that allows servicers to verify a homeowner's unemployment benefits and duration of those payments.
The Obama administration has opened the door for homeowners who have lost their jobs to include unemployment insurance benefits in their gross income to qualify for a loan modification. But servicers have to verify that the borrower will receive at least nine months of unemployment benefits to be eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program.
"We have not been able to always get that information until now," said Katie King, a community outreach manager at SunTrust Banks Inc.'s mortgage unit who chairs Hope Now's unemployment committee.
