Lender Glad to See Loan Program Extended

The U.S. Treasury Department’s recent extension of the Making Home Affordable Program to Dec. 31, 2015, gives lenders more time to help people who are “underwater” on their mortgages, said Todd White, senior vice president at Arvest Mortgage Co. in Lowell.

“It’s good for us in a couple of ways,” White said. “One is we do more business. Secondly, and most importantly, it keeps more of our customers in their homes.”

The Treasury Department announced the extension May 30. The program, which was to end Dec. 31, includes the Home Affordable Modification Program, Home Affordable Refinance Program and Streamlined Modification Initiative.

All the programs are for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

HARP had already received an extension in April. It’s designed to let people who owe more on their homes than they’re worth due to the 2008 market crash refinance at the historically low interest rates of the last couple of years, White said.

While Arvest Mortgage doesn’t specifically track the number of refinances it does under HARP, White said refis accounted for about 65 percent of its business last year, “and I would say that a large portion of it was HARP refinances.”

The company had a record-breaking year in 2012, originating more than 17,000 mortgage loans totaling $2.56 billion — a 62 percent increase over 2011. In the first quarter this year, mortgage loan originations were up 13.8 percent over the first quarter of 2012.

“There was such a rush of business in 2012, I think all lenders experienced some capacity challenges,” White said, “and [the extension] allows us to take more time and help more people, and so we’re real happy about that.”

A May 30 news release from the Treasury Department stated that the Making Home Affordable Program has helped more than 1.3 million homeowners nationwide since its launch in March 2009.