HOPE NOW (www.hopenow.com) is a national voluntary alliance of members of the mortgage industry and counseling agencies.  It was formed in October 2007 at the urging of the federal government (Treasury and HUD).  Members include mortgage servicers, investors, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and industry groups such as the Mortgage Bankers Association, and counseling agencies including NeighborWorks.  Currently, their servicer members cover 94% of the subprime market. Their members are also beginning a new loan modification program.

• Mailings to at-risk delinquent borrowers (60+ days)   Since November 2007, Alliance members have been making monthly mailings on HOPE NOW stationery to homeowners who are 60 days delinquent and have not contacted their servicer, supplementing efforts made directly by individual servicers to their customers.  The first three mailings (Nov-Jan) went to a total of 775,000 prime and subprime borrowers.  In late February, it reported 93,000 (19%) of the 492,000 borrowers who received letters in November (16%) or December (21%) had responded.  It also reported no change in the situation of 60% of the borrowers who received letters in November and December letters.


• Mailings to borrowers who are 90+ days delinquent or in foreclosure   In mid-February 2008, it announced that by March 31, 2008, its members will begin targeted outreach to homeowners who are at least 90 days delinquent and invite them to begin a workout process.  Letters sent under this program, called “Project Lifeline”, will ask borrowers to contact their servicer, agree to seek counseling and provide updated financial information. “In appropriate situations”, the servicer may stop the foreclosure for 30 days.


• Outreach to borrowers facing resets In mid-November 2007, members agreed to attempt to reach “at-risk” borrowers at least 120 days prior to the initial ARM reset on all 2/28 and 3/27 ARM products and inform borrowers of the potential increase in payment and terms of loans in order to determine whether borrowers may find it difficult to stay current.


• Efforts to make servicer/counseling communications more efficient  In November 2007, it announced efforts to improve communication between counselors and servicers, by advising counselors on the information servicers need to decide on possible resolutions (such as workouts) and enabling counselors to easily locate the appropriate servicing and loss mitigation staff.  Members agreed to establish a single port of entry for all counselors and make dedicated email and fax connections to support counselor and consumer contacts by January 2008.


• Servicer Contact Info for Homeowners   In late January 2008, it also published “hotline” phone numbers for most servicers of subprime loans for use by borrowers.  See www.fsround.org/media/pdfs/Servicerhotlines2.pdf


• Grants for Counseling - Homeownership Preservation Foundation - Funded by HOPE NOW members, this program has provided counseling grants to NeighborWorks (NW) and to the National Urban League ($1.2 million) to provide free foreclosure prevention assistance and education in 3 cities (Houston, St. Louis, Phoenix).