What's New at CHI
JP MORGAN CHASE SETS PRECEDENT BY BRINGING UNDERWRITERS TO WESTCHESTER
CHI FAST TRACK® EVENT
September 15, 2011
White Plains, NY, September 15, 2011 - In a first for any nonprofit counseling agency in the nation, JP Morgan Chase has agreed to send a team of bank underwriters to White Plains with the ability to write loan modifications on the spot for homeowners facing foreclosure.
Chase has an active nationwide program offering such help through “800” numbers and local homeownership centers. However this is the first time the bank has been willing to send underwriters, with the power to give families relief on the spot, to work in collaboration with a nonprofit agency. The underwriters will be in White Plains for three days of private meetings with homeowners for what is called the CHI Fast Track® Loan Modification Event.
The nonprofit agency, Community Housing Innovations (CHI), hosted three such events in the last year, one for Bank of America mortgage holders, and two for Wells Fargo. They were so successful that more than 300 homeowners met privately with lending officers, and 75 were granted permanent modifications so far, enabling them to stay in their homes.
According to Alexander Roberts, executive director of Community Housing Innovations, “The Fast Track events are unique in that we have four HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies bringing their clients with all of the documents necessary for the bank to make a decision. No more endless waiting for either party.”
The event, which is free to all homeowners by reservation only, is scheduled for October 24, 25 and 26. Homeowners can secure a one-hour meeting with a Chase underwriter by calling 1-877-HUD COUNSELING, or by calling any of the three other approved counseling agencies: Housing Action Council, Westchester Residential Opportunities, or Human Development Services of Westchester.
Roberts said that the event could never have happened without the personal intervention of Congresswoman Nita Lowey of Westchester.
“Congresswoman Lowey has helped hundreds of her constituents in danger of foreclosure and was an early supporter of the Fast Track concept.”
The FTLM, first launched by CHI in June of 2010, was CHI’s response to the growing tide of defaults and foreclosures in the County. To attain a critical mass of loan modification applicants attractive to a bank, Roberts reached out to the Housing Action Council, Human Development Services of Westchester and Westchester Residential Opportunities to participate in this effort. The Putnam County Housing Corporation and the Rockland County Housing Corporation also participated in the past.
Through this collaborative approach, the number of homeowners needing help grew high enough for Roberts to convince one of the nation’s largest banks, Bank of America, to send loan specialists to White Plains for three days of face-to-face meetings with its clients who had applied for loan modifications.
Two subsequent CHI Fast Track® Loan Modification events were held in September 2010 and June 2011 with Wells Fargo as the participating bank. Over the course of these three events, the cases of close to 300 families were reviewed in hour-long interviews, with several applicants returning during the three days to complete the process.
Anyone wishing to participate during the course of the three-day event is required to meet beforehand with a loan counselor from one of the HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies. The purpose is to insure that applicants have all the required documentation and understand the process. The free counselors also instruct applicants about how to work effectively with the lenders and to take responsible actions to remediate their own situations.
Peter Spino, Jr., Esq., CHI’s Manager, Foreclosure Services, believes that the FTLM Program has made headway to expedite the process. Of the families who participated
in the previous events, 75 have received loan modifications. Spino says he would like
to see better results, but believes that those going through the FTLM process have an advantage over those applying on their own.
JP Morgan Chase is one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers participating in the government’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program. Pro Publica, an Internet public interest group is the source of following statistics regarding the bank’s performance:
Trial Mods Started; 256, 560
In Trial; 17, 223 (6.7%)
Aged Trial; 3,485 (1.4%)
Cancelled Trials; 128,010 (49.9%)
Permanent Mods; 89,321 (34.8%)
Canceled Mods; 18,661 (7.3%)
Roberts concluded by saying that he and his staff are looking forward to working with Chase and adding to the number of people who have achieved viable remedies to this most critical homeownership challenge.
CHI gratefully acknowledges the Puckhinkonnuck Corp., which has donated space for the meetings.
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