Since August of this year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have engaged in over 130,000 loss mitigation actions, but only 28% of those were loan modifications. According to Congressional testimony by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart, loan modifications per month have increased by 60% this year compared to last year. They totaled 36,847.
The proportion of modifications in total loss mitigation actions by the private industry appears to be much higher than the GSEs´. A report released in September by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision on the industry´s workout efforts showed that 45% of the industry´s workouts in April, May and June were loan modifications, not payment plans.
Another joint OCC-OTS report is due soon for the third quarter, and it will offer an even more accurate comparison between the proportions of loan mods performed in the private sector and those done by the GSEs. But for now it seems Fannie and Freddie have some catching up to do.
