Homeowner program's reach is limited so far

WASHINGTON - The federal government's $50 billion program to ease the mortgage crisis is helping only a tiny fraction of struggling homeowners, and a list released yesterday showed which lenders are laggards.

As of the end of July, only 9 percent of eligible borrowers had seen their mortgage payments reduced with modified loans. And the program's first monthly progress report showed that 10 lenders had not changed a single mortgage.

The Treasury Department report indicated that lenders such as Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. have lagged behind government expectations. Both banks received billions in federal bailout money.

BofA modified just 4 percent of eligible loans, and Wells Fargo 6 percent. Wachovia Corp., which was taken over by Wells Fargo in December, modified only 2 percent.

"We think they could have ramped up better, faster, more consistently and done a better job serving borrowers and bringing stabilization to the broader mortgage markets and economy," said Michael Barr, Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions. "We expect them to do more."

Wells Fargo said it planned to speed up its efforts, signing up most borrowers for the Obama loan-modification plan with one phone call and sending customers a trial offer within two days.

The report is "only part of the story" because the numbers do not reflect an additional 220,000 loans that Wells modified outside the Obama plan this year, a company executive said.

BofA did not immediately comment on yesterday's report.

Meanwhile, foreclosures continue to rise. About 1.5 million households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in the first half of this year, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

There are 38 companies participating in the government loan-modification program, but there are some noticeable holdouts that control 15 percent of outstanding mortgages.

HomEq Servicing, owned by Barclays P.L.C., and Litton Loan Servicing, owned by Goldman Sachs, have yet to join. Spokesmen for both companies said they planned to do so soon.

So far, lenders have extended only 400,000 offers among 2.7 million eligible borrowers who are more than two months behind on their mortgage payments. More than 235,000 of those borrowers have enrolled in three-month trials.

But the government is partly to blame for the languid start. The administration rolled out the guidelines gradually this year. Much of the program was not finished until mid-May, and the guidelines were updated again in early July.

The White House maintains it is on track to meet its goal of helping up to 4 million homeowners by 2012.