Vast majority of home loans are modified outside Obama program

Since 2007, 5.66 million troubled homeowners have had their mortgages modified and the vast majority of them took place outside the Obama administration’s signature foreclosure rescue program, a new report shows.

Hope Now -- a Washington group composed of counselors, mortgage companies and investors -- said in its report Wednesday that since 2007 a total of 4.62 million homeowners had received so-called “proprietary” loan modifications -- meaning loans that are not offered through the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

An additional 1.04 million homeowners have received HAMP modifications.

The Obama program began in 2009 and is credited with helping improve the quality of loan modifications but criticized for falling well short of its stated goals of helping up to 4 million homeowners through 2012.

Former and current Obama administration officials often point out that most loan modifications before their program was created cost homeowners more than their original loans.

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