A week ago six of the major mortgage servicers involved in the Hope Now alliance
announced that they would be offering a
pause in foreclosure
proceedings to borrowers who appeared able to enter into loan modification agreements.
Now the remaining 19 members of the alliance have agreed to adopt the same guidelines
in a program nicknamed Project Lifeline.
The project offers homeowners who are three months or more in arrears in their
mortgage payments 30 additional days to seek help in working out agreements
with their lenders and/or servicers in order to avoid foreclosure and save their
homes.
The expansion of the program was announced Tuesday and now
will cover 90 percent of subprime borrowers and about 70 percent of the entire
mortgage market.
Members of the alliance will begin the process by sending out letters to delinquent
homeowners including those with prime, Alt A, and subprime first mortgages as
well as second mortgage liens and home equity lines. The 30-day delay will only
apply to homeowners who respond to efforts to contact them and begin negotiations
to work out their loans.