Mortgage servicers completed 120,350 proprietary loan modifications in July and 757,750 for the first seven months of this year, according to new figures released by the HOPE NOW Alliance.
In addition, year-to-date, HOPE NOW servicers have completed 367,780 permanent modifications under the government's Home Affordable Mortgage Program.
HOPE Now Senior Advisor Faith Schwartz noted that 86% of the proprietary mods in July resulted in reductions in the borrowers' monthly mortgage payments.
"The industry continues to make progress in assisting large numbers of borrowers who are at risk of foreclosure," Schwartz said.
The 36 HOPE NOW servicers also reported that 3.71 million mortgages were 60 days or more past due at the end of July, down 20% from the beginning of the year.
However, foreclosure starts jumped nearly 22% from June to 226,660 in July.
A recent report by LPS Applied Analytics showed that foreclosure starts on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans have been on the rise since April.
In July, foreclosure starts on GSE loans totaled 153,635, up from 127,320 in the prior month, according to the Jacksonville, Fla.-based subsidiary of Lender Processing Services.
Approximately 67,000 of the GSE foreclosure starts involved loans six months or more delinquent. The borrowers were likely in Home Affordable Modification Program of HAMP trials and didn't qualify for a permanent mod.
