"JPMorgan to ramp up loan help; Lender to tackle $70b in effort to avoid foreclosures" by Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | November 1, 2008
JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation's largest banks, said yesterday it ramped up a program to help borrowers modify their mortgages so that they can afford their monthly payments and prevent foreclosures.
The New York banking company already has renegotiated $40 billion in loans and now plans to tackle $70 billion more in an attempt to help another 400,000 families reduce their payments. As part of that effort, JPMorgan will establish 24 homeowner centers around the country and hire 300 loan counselors.
With loan delinquencies and foreclosures soaring, some financial companies are trying to stem the losses in their loan portfolios by providing relief to their struggling borrowers. Bank of America Corp., starting Dec. 1, will roll out a program to reduce principal and interest payments by $8.4 billion for some 400,000 customers of Countrywide Financial Corp., which it acquired.
What is taking so long?
Lenders' and the government's efforts to modify loans are slow, in part, because the institutions are overwhelmed by the number of delinquent mortgages and also thwarted by the complex ownership structure of mortgages, which were bundled together and sold to investors in packages. --more--"
Not telling us anything we didn't already know.
