In an attempt to handle the wave of loan modification applications, Citigroup, the nation's fourth largest loan servicer, has added 1,400 new employees to its staff, reaching a total of 4,000 employees in the loan mod department. This addition to staff is the direct result of pressure by the Obama administration for mortgage players to do more for homeowners facing financial hardship.
For San Diego homeowners, loan modifications are taking anywhere from 60-120 business days for processing. Analysts cite reasons such as the slow pace is the lack of adequate staff and infrastructure by loan servicer companies. "Not only did we invest in substantially more people, but we invested massively in telephone lines and infrastructure" to implement the loan modification program, said Sanjiv Das, chief executive officer of CitiMortgage.
Citigroup's chief executive officer has said foreclosure prevention is among the top priorities for the bank. "[Pandit] basically said that he would invest whatever it took for us to massively ramp up the number of modifications," Das said. "I could walk into his office and could get almost anything I wanted to get this program up and running." In June 2009, the percentage of Citigroup-serviced loans 90 days past due rose to 4.7%, up from 3.9% in March and 2.6% in June 2008, according to a report from Citigroup.
The San Diego real estate market has seen a sharp drop in real estate prices, as well as employment, triggering the need for lower mortgage payments that may be possibly through a loan mod.
Julie Fontaine is the author of "Homeowner's Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure - Strategies & Solutions", and is a business partner in a successful short sale & loan mod company in San Diego, California. On the web you can find us at http://www.619ShortSale.com or Troubled Property Solutions
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