US Watchdog Report: Treasury Not Doing Enough to Punish Poorly-Performing Mortgage Firms

Fox Business
July 28, 2011
Zibel, Alan

In a quarterly report, an independent federal watchdog challenged whether the Obama administration has done enough to punish mortgage firms for poor performance in its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said it supported the Treasury Department's decision to punish mortgage companies for poor performance under the initiative, but questioned whether enough companies had been punished. The office has long been critical of how the administration has run the program, which fell short of initial expectations. In June, the Treasury decided to withhold millions of dollar in fees from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase. However, the inspector general's report pointed out that other companies had also fared poorly with HAMP. The program was announced in 2009 with a goal of assisting 3 million to 4 million homeowners in saving their homes and obtaining permanent loan modifications. However, as of May 2011, it has only helped 633,500 borrowers.
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