By Theo Francis
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Mortgage modifications made permanent last month under President Barack Obama’s foreclosure prevention initiative exceeded for the first time the pace of trial plans started as aid to homeowners began to take hold.
Modifications made permanent jumped 75 percent in January from December, while new trials rose about 9 percent, according to U.S. Treasury Department data released today. In total, 116,297 people in the Home Affordable Modification Program have been successfully steered into more manageable loans, with 830,438 more trying to navigate through the trial phase of the plan.
As the program nears the one-year anniversary of its unveiling, it is still short of the 3 million to 4 million at- risk homeowners Obama targeted. About 2.82 million U.S. homeowners still lost their properties to foreclosure last year and 4.5 million filings are expected in 2010, RealtyTrac Inc. said last month.
