Loan Modifications, 5 Things the Government Is Not Doing But Should

Mortgage foreclosures are increasing steadily as home values plummet and layoffs are becoming ever more common while homeowners crumble under the weight of mortgages they can no longer afford.
The administration is working hard to increase the number of loan modifications to help out struggling homeowners. However higher unemployment rates are making it hard for homeowners to afford even good prime mortgages loan modifications struggle to improve. Also, foreclosures often prove to be a cheaper alternative for mortgage providers when the real cost of loan modifications is calculated.
So what can be done to fix this situation? Although far from total solutions I will put forward five possible measures. Some would be unpopular, others hard to implement but the truth is that easy fixes are just not there to be found.
1) Mandate Loan Modifications.
Up to now the government has tried to court mortgage providers into making loan modifications. Providing incentives and often footing the entire bill of loan modifications. This could be changed if the administration regulates foreclosures and makes it a legal requirement for banks to offer modifications before they can foreclose a loan or mortgage.
2) Provide Principal Reductions on Existing Loans.

Unless you actually reduce the principal (amount borrowed) of a loan you are not really helping, just lengthening the loan and making it harder regain equity on the home. Equity is the best incentive for homeowners to pay their mortgage payments. If you feel your home is worth more than you owe on it you see it as an investment worth protecting that you can sell at a profit if things get real bad.

3) Ease Accounting Rules for Loan Modifications.

Messy accounting procedures and bureaucracy’s red tape is responsible for much of the cost of loan modifications making them hard to enforce and expensive to make. Even the 500,000 plus loan trials the HAMP program has managed to make ahead of schedule will have to undergo further paperwork and potential bureaucracy pits once the three month trials are finished which will probably cause many of the loan trials to fall through.

4) More Transparent and Uniform Loan Modifications Reports.

Every bank or mortgage provider seems to have their own system to measure eligible borrowers and how they report their loan modifications. This makes it difficult to set uniform procedures, require targets and regulate the efficiency of loan providers.

5) Limit Fees For Borrowers.

Fees charged to borrowers are so high that even if a homeowner falls in difficult times for brief period he/she can fall into a spiral of debt due to the high fees and penalties he or she incurs. Also, loan modifications tend to include expensive fees for the homeowner just to apply for.