Chase Bank finally gets around to underwater information sessions– ForeclosureConnections
Chase Bank finally gets around to underwater information sessions ForeclosureConnections
Chase Bank is finally becoming proactive in the troubled housing market
But, will it be able to make up the backlog in time?
And how will Americans best remember it, and other banks, in future?
As HAMP finally begins to get its claws through the American banking industry's thick hide, a face-saving scramble has started to ripple through Wall Street. Chase Bank seems to be catching up with the mood of America, and will be funding a series of foreclosure prevention counseling events starting in Chicago on May 17th, and continuing through Atlanta, Washington, D.C, New York, Northern California, Orlando, Phoenix, and Southern California at dates to be announced.
The intention of these information sessions, which could be staffed by up to 40 counselors, is to assist troubled Chase clients apply for loan modifications or obtain approval for short sales. The venues will also serve as temporary Chase offices for customers needing to sign documents or submit applications for relief.
These sessions are not a totally new idea the Bank kicked off with the idea early in 2009 and has already provided face to face advice to many who have fallen behind with payments or face underwater situations. In Florida, for example, 3,200 clients were serviced and many were able to be assisted almost immediately.
According to ProPublica (a non-profit investigative organization) JP Morgan Chase subsidiaries have already modified over 43% of the 431,000 loans available for loan modification in terms of HAMP. This sounds impressive, particularly as Chase ranks second highest loan lender behind Bank of America.
The news would be even better if Chase had as a good a track record in this regard as some of its opposition. The latest Treasury Department league table of major lenders (with at least 5,000 eligible loans) reveals the following:
Eight have modified a significantly larger proportion than Chase
Wells Fargo is right on Chase's heels
Bank of America (the largest lender) lags far behind with a paltry 26.6%
Although big banks may argue that it's the sheer volume of the work that's holding them back, more skeptical observers claim that bigger also means more idle hands to help, and its really just a combination of the bigger the tougher, and those with least to lose heading the pack.
The question in my mind is whether Americans will still remember how their favorite banks are treating them in these tough days, when, at some time in the future, the housing markets finally turn, and the banks are back on television purring like cute kitty cats with 100% loans on offer.