The U.S. Treasury Department has issued Supplemental Directive 15-06 “Making Home Affordable Program – Streamlined Modification Process”.

This new program is akin to the Streamlined Modifications already offered on GSE Loans. GSE or “Government-sponsored enterprise”, are privately held corporations for a public purpose such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These GSEs have had in place streamline modifications that Loan Servicers are mandated to offer to eligible borrowers. One draw-back in any type of modification with a GSE Loan is the fact that principal reduction is not offered.

This new directive is for Non-GSE Loans and the Loan Servicers and Lenders such as Chase, Citibank, Carrington Mortgage, Nationstar Mortgage and so many others. The streamline modification provides a modification opportunity to delinquent borrowers of Non-GSE Loans without the need to submit any docs or for any income verification. In fact, once a Loan Servicer has designated its pool of eligible borrowers a Streamline HAMP Trial Period Plan Offer will be issued to the Borrower. The only thing for the Borrower to do is make the first payment to enter into the trial period. This will greatly improve the approval process for those Borrowers that are directly designated and free up resources for those borrowers that may not be eligible by lessening the modification approval time frame. The bonus is that in Non-GSE modifications, principal reduction can, and may be included in the modification.

Eligible Borrowers will only learn of this from their Loan Servicers directly by mail. Be sure to keep an eye on all mail received from your Loan Servicer to see if you are in luck. Regrettably, if a Borrower does not fit within the specific eligibility pool they will be out of luck for streamline modifications.

New York is one of many states across the country that has implemented court-mandated settlement conferences for residential foreclosure actions.

It is important to understand how these conferences work so that homeowners can take full advantage of this opportunity to delay and avoid foreclosure. The initial conference must be scheduled within 60 days after the proof of service of the complaint has been filed with the county clerk and allows the borrower to meet with his or her Lender and a court referee or judge to discuss potential workout options, such as loan modifications or payment plans. If the borrower decides to apply for a loan modification, the Lender provides the borrower with a document request for the loan modification application, and the court referee sets deadlines for the submission and review of the application. Typically, there are numerous conferences throughout the application process in order to ensure that the borrower is complying with the Lender’s document requests and that the Lender is properly reviewing the application. If a borrower believes he was improperly denied a loan modification, his attorney may request a bad faith hearing with the judge to determine whether the Lender should be sanctioned for bad faith negotiations. These settlement conferences not only help homeowners delay the foreclosure process but also can stop the foreclosure process all together.

Not every person who has a property in foreclosure in New York State is entitled to these mandatory pre-trial foreclosure settlement conferences. The law in New York (CPLR 3408), extends the conferences only to owner-occupied residential properties, so if a homeowner has a vacant property or a rental property in foreclosure, he or she is not entitled to a CPLR 3408 conference as of right.

Further, CPLR 3408 does not apply in federal court, but settlement conferences are still available at the federal level. Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows federal courts to hold pre-trial conferences for the purpose of settlement negotiations and encourages judges to take an active part in the settlement negotiations. The procedures differ at the federal level but the purpose is still the same. These conferences are often the difference between a homeowner staying in his or her home and losing it.