Recently, we have seen a dramatic increase by almost 30 in the number of homeowners' mortgages that have been permanently modified. Almost 25% of the 1.2 million trial modifications that began over a year ago under the Treasury's Home Affordable Modification Program (also known as HAMP) have now been permanently modified.

A problem many of these homeowners have been facing is the inability of the Loan Servicer to verify homeowners' incomes. This is something many people do not understand about the loan modification process. You must have some sort of income before you qualify for a loan modification. Being unemployed with no source of steady income does not automatically qualify you for a modification and in most instances, makes it even harder for you to be able to gain the approval you need to modify your existing mortgage payment.To combat this problem, beginning later this year on June 1, the HAMP program will now require that ALL modifications be based on VERIFIED income statements. By doing so, the Treasury is effectively guaranteeing that less modifications will be cancelled once the application process has begun.

What this means for homeowners is that they will need income, verified and evidenced before they will be able to qualify for a modification of any sort under the Home Affordable Modification Program. The economy being what it is, it may not be possible for a homeowner to maintain a steady income and when faced with such a situation, will need to seek out other methods of alleviating the burden of a cumbersome mortgage payment. This is when short sales and Deed in lieu of foreclosure options present themselves the next likely means for a homeowner in this situation to explore.Mitra KarimiCrestico, Inc. http://www.crestico.commitra.karimi@crestico.com