Mortgage Servicers Report Foreclosure Settlement Progress in Washington

Five months after five of the nation’s top mortgage servicers agreed to a foreclosure settlement with 49 states attorneys generals, several federal agencies, and court reporters in Seattle WA, preliminary numbers are in. Nationwide, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial have helped a total of 7,093 borrowers modify their mortgages and they’ve forgiven $749.4 million in mortgage debt in the past five months. They’ve also helped over 74,000 people sell their home via short sale by forgiving part of their mortgage. Below are some of the other nationwide results:

About $348.9 million in pre-March forbearance has been forgiven for 5,500 borrowers, amounting to an average of $63,445 per borrower.
The servicers also modified or forgave second liens for 4,213 borrowers, totaling $231.4 million. This translates to about $54,930 per borrower.
Short sales and deeds in lieu were a popular loss mitigation technique among the five servicers from March through June, with about 74,614 completed, totaling about $8.67 billion in debt forgiveness for borrowers. (source)
State of Washington Progress
Combined, the five servicers have helped over 3,000 Washington state residents avoid foreclosure by modifying their first or second mortgages, forgiving principal or allowing the borrower to short sale their property. Short sales alone accounted for 1,831 borrowers in Washington avoiding foreclosure. And nationwide, short sales proved to be the most popular option used by borrowers to avoid losing their home.
The numbers reported by the mortgage servicers are self-reported and have not yet been verified. But it does give a glimpse in the progress made in the time after the foreclosure settlement agreement was finalized. A report offering official numbers will be available for public perusal in the first quarter of 2013.