Countrywide Financial Corp. has teamed up with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to help subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure. All of Countrywide’s borrowers with subprime loans will be eligible for relief, according to an announcement made earlier today.

Although Countrywide completed more than 81,000 home retention workouts in 2007, the lender is still having huge problems with defaults. As of December 31, a whopping 33.64 percent of Countrywide’s subprime loans were delinquent, up from 21.22 percent a year earlier.

Last month, the struggling lender agreed to be bought by Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank. The deal is projected to be finalized sometime in the third quarter of this year.

In the meantime, Countrywide will open up a new plan to subprime borrowers who need more manageable loans to avoid foreclosure. The lender intends to work with the advocacy group ACORN to formalize workout plans for borrowers.

What makes this plan different from some of the other previously announced initiatives is that relief will be available to all of Countrywide’s subprime borrowers, regardless of their default status. This means that workout options are available for those who are current on their mortgage payments and for those who are not.

Furthermore, borrowers do not need to have an ARM to apply for help. Subprime borrowers who have fixed rate mortgages can also seek out various workout solutions.

Some of the options Countrywide will offer to an estimated 100,000 customers include a loan modification for ARM loans that offers a five-year pre-reset rate freeze and short-term repayment plans. Some borrowers will also have the option to refinance into a prime loan.

It is hard to estimate how much of an impact (if any) Countrywide’s subprime relief plan will have. Approximately 40 percent of current subprime ARM foreclosures can be attributed to borrowers who already had at least one loan modification or repayment plan but defaulted anyway, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Countrywide’s impact will also depend on how many borrowers get repayment plans and how many get loan modifications. Repayment plans are not nearly as effective because the lender takes funds that are owed and tacks them onto the back end of the loan. Although the borrower’s delinquent status is erased, the problem is not.

Repayment plans are the prevailing tactic of the HOPE NOW alliance, which includes 16 of the nation’s largest conventional and subprime mortgage servicers. During the second half of 2007, nearly 75 percent of all subprime workouts involved payment plans versus loan modifications.

Will Countrywide try to forestall the inevitable like the HOPE NOW alliance or will they make a true effort to renegotiate all of their bad loans?

During a conference call with reporters, Acorn president Maude Hurd didn’t offer any estimates about repayment plans and loan modifications, but did say that Countrywide’s new practice will help all subprime borrowers and “fill the gaps” left by other foreclosure relief initiatives.

Mary Jane Seebach, managing director of public affairs for Countrywide, said the company also has intentions to announce future programs that will help prime borrowers and borrowers with pay option loans.

Home equity loans and lines of credit are putting lenders in an even bigger pinch as the number of home equity defaults rises to record levels.

Countrywide Financial Corp, the lender with the nation’s biggest home equity loan book, announced last week its $32.4 billion portfolio of prime home equity lines of credit is deteriorating rapidly. The company took a $704 million charge as a direct result of home equity loan defaults.

And Countrywide isn’t alone. The loss rates are climbing for all lenders, according to Frederick Cannon, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Home equity lenders extended $504 billion in new home equity loans and lines of credit in 2006 and $456 billion in 2007. Estimating the extent of any one lender’s exposure to home equity loans is difficult because the risk is generally carried off the balance sheet. In other words, trouble isn’t always obvious until loans have deteriorated past a certain threshold.

What is clear is that defaults are rising. Home equity loan defaults have increased by nearly 50 percent in a year’s time and delinquencies on lines of credit have doubled in the same time period.

Not All Lenders Are Foreclosing

Although equity borrowers are defaulting in high numbers, some banks have been hesitant to foreclose on homes, choosing instead to walk away from the loans altogether.

“More often now than ever before we are writing off the loan,” says Bob Caruso, Bank of America Corp.’s national servicing executive. “The customer still owes the money, but it is no longer an asset on our books.”

This strategy may seem like a step away from the norm, but it is rapidly becoming the most prudent route for a home equity lender. Foreclosing can leave the lender deeper in the red because the owner of the first mortgage must be bought out.

Since falling home prices have insured the property’s value will not be enough to cover the costs of foreclosure in many cases, it’s generally better to just write off the loan.

Lenders Tightening Credit

Sixty percent of the U.S. banks responding to a recent Federal Reserve survey say they have instituted tougher criteria for home equity lines of credit. Lenders have also tightened guidelines considerably on home equity loans.  

Countrywide sent letters to 122,000 customers recently to announce that Countrywide was freezing the ability to draw from existing lines of credit.  The letters were sent to areas where home prices have dropped considerably, according to a Countrywide spokesperson.

Washington Mutual, Citigroup and the USAA Federal Savings Bank have all made similar moves, citing the right to do so under the borrowers’ creditor agreements.

Lenders have also begun to alter their definitions of good credit and ample equity. A score of at least 680 or 700 is now required to get a home equity loan in most cases, according Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans.

The state of the local housing market is considered by many lenders as well. For example, Bank of America allows borrowers to tap up to 90 percent of their equity throughout much of the nation. But the same lender limits the amount to 80 percent in areas like Miami and Las Vegas, where home prices have fallen.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Chase will take follow suit by limiting the maximum amount of equity that can be borrowed to 70 percent in Florida, California and other housing depressed areas.

Looks like the Inland Empire may recieve much needed assistance and homewers may be able to avoid foreclosure with a new plan by our governor. 

Gov. Schwarzenegger came to Riverside on Thursday to alert homeowners living in one of the nation’s most mortgage-troubled regions about options that may save their homes from foreclosure.

Schwarzenegger announced a $1.2 million public-awareness campaign a week after saying he had reached an agreement with four large mortgage-servicing companies to freeze interest rates on adjustable-rate mortgages for homeowners who live in their property, are current on their payments and cannot afford to pay higher interest rates.

The governor said Thursday that he is working to add more loan-servicing companies to the agreement, which now includes Countrywide Financial Corp., Litton Loan Servicing, GMAC Mortgage and HomeEq Servicing.

Read the Rest of the Story by the Leslie Berkman of the Press Enteprise here.

Homeowner Story By Jac Mac at LoanSafe.org 

I am hoping that I’ll have better results with Countrywide than I’ve read so I’d like some support and help along the way. I’ve been reading a lot on Moe’s site and he’s offered so much valuable information, I can never thank him enough.

I almost feel smart again.

My story can be found here Worse than a Pimp (Thanks Moe) and it sure did cause a frenzy of nasty replies from what I am guessing are pissed off LOs.

I am a single parent of two children, fifteen months apart, ages 12 and 13 — the 12 year old happens to be autistic.

I refi’d with CW (biggest mistake of my life) into a — let me take a deep breath, 1 mt. 11th District COFI Option Arm, which the broker offered at an initial interest rate of 1.5%.

We went over what the payments would look like and she told me that the deferred interest would never go past $2,000 a year, as long as I paid the minimum and then the full payment alternatively every other month.

Even though I did that, in ten months, the principal had increased a whopping $12,000.

They also got a YSP of $14,000 which wasn’t disclosed on the HUD — it says 3,500 POC ( I just figured out that means Paid outside of closing).

There’s a prepenalty for six months so I can’t refinance w/o being hit with a $27,000 fee.

Now I’m wondering what was the $10,000 origination fee they got as well. Is that in addition to the $14,000?

It seems pretty clear she sold me into a higher rate, option ARM loan to get her fee.

Now I’m losing equity like crazy and I can’t make the principal payments.

I also posted this in response to a thread but would like to put it here so I can update the story as things happen.

after reading about the nightmare everyone else was going through with calling, I’ve decided rather than play phone tag to have my loan modification done in person, at Countrywide’s Financial Center. I am scheduled to go there on Friday and speak to the Loss Mitigation Department so that they can get my financial information.

I popped in there on Monday and spoke with the manager of the center. She was very nice and called the VP of Home Retention right there in front of me, took down my email address to send him a message and told me if I didn’t hear from him by that afternoon I should call her — she gave me her cellphone number.

So, of course, I didn’t hear from him. Tried to call her, but couldn’t get her. Left a message but didn’t hear back. So I called first thing in the morning, and caught her on her cell. She was pleasant, said she’d call me when she got to the office and give me Mr. Durham’s direct number. Supposedly he’s very proactive in Loan Modifications.

When I didn’t hear from her by noon (about four hours later), I took a walk — fifteen minutes, and I was at her office.

She smiled, but I don’t think it reached her eyes. I want her to know if she doesn’t call me back I WILL be at her office and can be there in minutes.

She called the Loss Mitigation Department for me right then and there in her office and had me speak to another woman, Paula Edwards, and she has committed to fax all the documents that need to be sent for me. She’s also offered to look over my loan documents for me. The manager of the office seems sincere but I am jaded.

Ms. Edwards told me that they called in the morning and spoke to a Mister, a bilingual man — I cut her off and told them there WAS NO MISTER and I made it clear to her that I have zero interest in playing phone tag with anyone. I gave her my cell phone number and told her to call me at that number, but told her I’d be doing all of the paper work in office at the center.

Hopefully this will turn out to be a smart decision. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for myself and for all of us struggling to end this nightmare.

Anyone have any suggestions as to exactly what financial information I should bring with me to the meeting on Friday. I am a self employed freelancer who’s suffered a slow period in my market. I own a S Corporation, so I don’t have my 1099s for 2007 yet — only what’s been deposited in my business accounts can be shown by way of bank statements.

I also have two tenants, so I can show the income from the rental units but other than that, I have no pay stubs or anything like that. My mortgage payment has adjusted to 8.0 percent which puts me at a $5,300 full principal payment per month. The minimum is just $2,000 and if I only pay that, you know what that means — negative amortization. If I keep pulling money out of my savings to meet the payments I’ll have nothing left real soon.

I need a fixed mortgage and quickly!