Loan Modification, Foreclosure Prevention Program | featured news

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.

More than 170,000 troubled homeowners are breathing a lasting sigh of relief now that they've received permanent modifications under the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program.

The U.S. Treasury said its foreclosure-prevention program has cut mortgage payments for about 947,000 households, at least temporarily.

About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody's Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few.

Millions more Americans are facing financial security as a result of stabilizing home prices, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday, even though only about 66,000 people have benefited from permanent mortgage loan modifications aimed to prevent foreclosure, a figure that has resulted in a House panel investigation.

Housing advocates who work with homeowners say that while President Obama’s loan modification program could help thousands of New Yorkers, it has been slow to get off the ground.