According to a recent report on Mortgage News Daily two government agencies have reported that they are attempting to once again re-vamp the HAMP program in the hopes to make it more effective and successful. HAMP has enrolled 850,000 homeowners most of those seriously delinquent on their mortgages some of these are in trial modifications, but have been reported to have 
problems converting into a permanent modification. I have heard this more times than I care to count. The mortgage lenders have various sometimes bogus reasons and the HAMP programs eats up every bit, choosing to believe that the mortgage lenders are in fact doing their job in assisting people.
The new “changes” to the HAMP program are as follows:
- a borrower’s eligibility for a modification must be fully verified before the borrower enters the trial period.
- The new directive sets out firm conditions to be met to establish eligibility such as acceptable forms of income verification and application of rental income.
- servicers are not required to forbear more than the greater of either 30 percent of the unpaid principal balance of the mortgage loan or an amount resulting in a modified interest bearing balance that would create a current mark-to-market loan-to-value ratio equal to 100 percent.
- Once the borrower is deemed eligible for the program there will be a two-step process for modifications.
I am sorry to say but I really don’t see these new “changes” as turning things around. I don’t believe that amount of successful loan modifications changing that dramtically. I do believe that there will be slightly more successful loan modifications and some lenders will be doing more than others. So don’t lose hope of saving your home, but please be realistic and go into the loan modification process with your eyes wide open and DON’T pay ANYONE upfront money for it! There are good trusted people and non profit groups who can help answer your questions and you can always ask us here.