Mortgage Loan Outlet

The Homeownership Preservation Initiative (HOPI) is a partnership between the City of Chicago, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, and key lending, investment and servicing institutions doing business in Chicago. The partnership seeks to preserve homeownership whenever possible and keep families in their homes through counseling, loss mitigation and loan modifications. When foreclosure is unavoidable, the partners seek to preserve the vacant properties as neighborhood assets.

Three-Year Goals:

Homeownership Preservation: Help 1,500 homeowners avoid foreclosure.  Help 500 homeowners per year avoid foreclosure through loss mitigation efforts, including loan workouts, refinancing, loan modifications, repayment plans and small loans to bring homeowners current on mortgage payments.  Property Preservation: Reclaim 300 vacant, foreclosed properties

NHS, through cooperation with lender partners and the Department of Housing, will acquire 100 foreclosed single family buildings per year over three years, rehab them to safe and habitable condition, and sell the homes to low and moderate income families.

311 Homeownership Preservation Campaign

To expand efforts to reach homeowners at risk of foreclosure, the City of Chicago has developed the 311 Homeownership Preservation Campaign. The 311 Campaign will encourage homeowners to call 311 at the first sign of mortgage delinquency. Callers will be connected with one of three credit counseling agencies affiliated with the Credit Counseling Resource Center for a free one-hour counseling session. The counseling agency will:

Provide an in-depth assessment of the homeowner’s financial situation and an individual action plan: Serve as a liaison between the homeowner and the mortgage company, where appropriate, to advocate for a repayment plan, loan modification or other loss mitigation strategy that will help the homeowner avoid foreclosure.   Provide referrals to local resources, where appropriate, for job training, tax assistance, emergency grants, and foreclosure prevention classes.

Questions about the Program:

How does the counseling session work?   The 311 Operator will connect you with a not-for-profit, accredited housing counselor. The counseling session will take place over the phone and is completely confidential. The counselor will gather information from you about your financial obligations and work through your options for avoiding foreclosure. If appropriate, the counselor will help you contact your mortgage lender and negotiate a repayment plan.

How long does the counseling session take?  You should be prepared to spend at least 45 minutes on the phone with the counselor. If you are not able to participate in a counseling session right now, you should call back as soon as you have time available. I’m not in foreclosure now, but I lost my job and am afraid I won’t be able to make my mortgage payment.

Can I participate?   Yes! The counselor can help you establish a budget to get through the next few months.

Are there grants available?   Depending on your particular financial and family situation, there may be low interest loans or emergency funds available. The only way you can determine the best options available to you is by speaking with a housing counselor.

Is there a cost for this counseling? The counseling is being provided free of charge to callers. The City of Chicago and participating lenders are funding the program.

IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB (“Indymac Federal”) will implement a new program to systematically modify troubled mortgages. The program is designed to achieve affordable and sustainable mortgage payments for borrowers and increase the value of distressed mortgages by rehabilitating them into performing loans. This in turn will maximize value for the FDIC, as well as improve returns to the creditors of the former IndyMac Bank and to investors in those mortgages. The new loan modification program will help IndyMac Federal improve its mortgage portfolio and servicing by modifying troubled mortgages, where appropriate, into performing mortgages.

What mortgage loans are eligible?

The streamlined loan modifications will be available for most borrowers who have a first mortgage owned or securitized and serviced by IndyMac Federal where the borrower is seriously delinquent or in default. IndyMac Federal also will seek to work with others who are unable to pay their mortgages due to payment resets or changes in the borrowers’ repayment capacities. This streamlined approach applies only to mortgages for the borrower’s primary residence. As with all mortgage loan modifications, borrowers will have to demonstrate their financial hardship by documenting their income.

The goal of this streamlined loan modification program is to achieve improved value for IndyMac Federal by turning troubled loans into performing loans and, thereby, avoiding unnecessary and costly foreclosures. Accomplishing this goal will reduce the costs to the FDIC of the failure of IndyMac Bank and provide improved returns to investors in securitized mortgages.

Some mortgages serviced by IndyMac Federal are subject to additional contractual terms governing loan modifications. While additional steps are necessary to comply with those contracts, IndyMac Federal will work to expedite approvals for modifications to help eligible homeowners keep their homes.

IndyMac Federal will only make modification offers to borrowers where doing so will achieve an improved value for IndyMac Federal or for investors in securitized or whole loans. Modification offers will be provided consistent with agreements governing servicing for loans serviced by IndyMac Federal for others. The modification program does not guarantee a modification offer for IndyMac Federal borrowers.