Wells Fargo signed into the second-lien modification component of the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
The program will be offered to qualified Wells Fargo and Wachovia second-lien mortgage customers who have completed their HAMP modifications on their first mortgage.
“The Second-Lien Modification Program offers struggling homeowners with yet another valuable option for reducing payments so they can remain in their homes,” said Kevin Moss, executive vice president of Wells Fargo’s home equity group. “This program is an important component of joint industry and government efforts to bring further stability to the housing market.”
Wells Fargo has already implemented a variety of its own programs to assist its home equity customers. Over the past two years, it has reached out to thousands of customers via telephone calls, mail and other means to discuss potential assistance options.
Additionally, the company added over 2,000 team members to its staff to focus on helping its customers who may be struggling to make their home equity payments.
As a result of all of these efforts, as of the end of February 2010, Wells Fargo provided assistance to over 180,000 second-lien mortgage customers through various programs. These include loan modifications and subordinations, and over a half million first mortgage customers with first-lien modifications.
This included 139,065 active trial and completed first-lien HAMP modifications. Given the HAMP focus on affordability and documentation, Wells Fargo expects loans modified under the new second-lien program to have a similar quality and performance to those made under its own internal programs.
