Loan Modification, Foreclosure | featured news

Grocery store owners William and Esperanza Casco were making enough money to stay current on their mortgage, but when JPMorgan Chase & Co. offered a plan that reduced their payments, they figured they could use the extra cash and signed up.

The number of U.S. homes taken back by banks through foreclosure hit a record high in the second quarter, even as lenders delayed more homes from entering the process through short sales and loan modification efforts, according to data to be released Thursday.

More than 170,000 troubled homeowners are breathing a lasting sigh of relief now that they've received permanent modifications under the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program.

The U.S. Treasury said its foreclosure-prevention program has cut mortgage payments for about 947,000 households, at least temporarily.

About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody's Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few.

Millions more Americans are facing financial security as a result of stabilizing home prices, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday, even though only about 66,000 people have benefited from permanent mortgage loan modifications aimed to prevent foreclosure, a figure that has resulted in a House panel investigation.

The number of homes entering the first stage of foreclosure fell in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, MDA DataQuick says -- a sign that banks are working with delinquent borrowers.

Fewer Californians entered foreclosure during the last three months of the year as bailed-out banks appeared to step up their work with delinquent borrowers, according to data released this morning, although the number of homes taken back by banks rose slightly.

As foreclosure casualties mount, the Obama administration Monday is expected to announce additional steps to get long-term help for borrowers, CNNMoney reports.

After a slow start, the Obama administration's mortgage relief program has reached one in five eligible homeowners, a government report says.

A La Cañada Flintridge couple trying to save their home from foreclosure were arrested along with three others on suspicion of beating, torturing and robbing a pair of loan modification agents they believed had done nothing to help them rescue the residence.