Redefault

[phantom power]

Hmmmm.... uh oh.

Mortgage modification programs aren't helping people keep their houses. People who are underwater don't really have an incentive to keep paying, even with reduced interest rates, and people who have lost their jobs can't.

And the ARM default wave is starting to break...

The report covers 34 million loans, representing more than 60 percent of primary home mortgages. Consistent with other reports, it showed borrowers are continuing to fall behind as job losses mount. More than 11 percent of borrowers covered by the report had missed at least one payment as of June 30, up from 10 percent in April.

It also highlighted mounting problems with an especially troubling category of loans - "pick-a-payment" or option ARM loans, which allowed borrowers to defer some of their interest payments and add them to the principal. At the end of June, 10 percent of these loans were in foreclosure, more than triple the rate for all mortgages in the survey.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093001695.html

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009/09/redefault.html