One of many ill-advised pieces of the Home Affordable Modification Program may be getting a quiet retirement. The Second Lien Modification Program, which was announced back in April, seems to be on the skids. Calculated Risk puts the story together:
Housing economist Tom Lawler emailed the HAMP administrative website to obtain a list of servicers who had signed up for the Second Lien Modification Program. Here is the response he received:
“That program is currently on hold and there is no list of servicers that registered before it was placed on hold.”
This is not an official announcement, and the Treasury office I'm trying to confirm with has been known to take three weeks to answer a pretty simple question. But assuming the program really is suspended, that could be reflective of several things. It may be impossible to get second lienholders to go along with the program (which would explain why "there is no list"). It's possible that so many second-mortgage situations are beyond hopeless that there's no point in starting the effort. It is also possible the $75 billion HAMP program is running short on cash, though given the total value of claimed modifications so far, that seems unlikely.
First Smart Move In a Long Time: Government Surrenders on Second Mortgages
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