Since inception of the Making Home Affordable Program, Treasury has required participating servicers to take specific actions to improve their processes through ongoing program reviews. The quarterly Servicer Assessments summarize performance in three categories of program implementation: identifying and contacting homeowners; homeowner evaluation and assistance; and program reporting, management and governance. Results for the first quarter of 2013 show that, although servicer performance can fluctuate from quarter to quarter, servicers are demonstrating continued improvement in program implementation, including:
Servicers are more effectively evaluating homeowners under program eligibility criteria as seen in the “second look disagree” category, which reflects the rate at which program reviews disagree with the servicers’ decision to find a homeowner ineligible for assistance. In the first quarter, the average second look disagree rate for the top servicers was below one percent.
Mortgage servicers continue to accurately calculate homeowner income, which is used to determine a homeowner’s eligibility and modified payment amount under the program. The majority of servicers have income calculation error rates below the established benchmark (with two servicers at zero percent error rates).
All servicers will need to demonstrate progress in any areas identified in subsequent program reviews. Additionally, all servicers have been directed to strengthen implementation in a few key areas, including timely and accurate reporting of program data and ensuring the timely assignment of a single point of contact (SPOC) to homeowners.
The May Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:
