Mortgage Rescue, Homeowner | featured news

Bank of America will on Wednesday announce plans to start forgiving mortgage loan principal for troubled homeowners who owe more than 120 percent of their home's value or are battling ever-expanding "negative amortization" loans.

The average homeowner in the Obama administration's signature foreclosure-prevention program owes more on their mortgage than the home is worth, yet the program does virtually nothing to address this problem, according to a scathing new report by a government watchdog.

Mortgage servicing companies have the complex task of figuring out if millions of borrowers qualify for mortgage modifications. And there has been some progress lately getting homeowners sign up.

After a slow start, the Obama administration's mortgage relief program has reached one in five eligible homeowners, a government report says.

The Obama administration’s effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure may not achieve its goal of helping 3 million to 4 million borrowers, a government watchdog group says.

The case of Carrington Mortgage shows how some loan modifications benefit only the lender.

The Treasury said less than 10% of eligible borrowers have received trial modifications under the White House's effort to help struggling homeowners.

In early 2008, Cheryl Ann Montero, a California mortgage broker, held a series of free seminars in the clubhouse of the Lone Tree Golf Course in Contra Costa County, a suburban area near San Francisco. The attendees, homeowners facing foreclosure, were desperate for a rescue from their woes. Using a PowerPoint presentation, Montero delivered one.