SHAHEEN SUPPORTS MOVE BY TREASURY DEPARTMENT TO PROTECT HOMEOWNERS

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today commended the move by the United States Treasury Department to require mortgage servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to assign a Single Point of Contact to homeowners in the mortgage loan process.

This directive was introduced in response to concerns from homeowners who have struggled with loan modifications due to conflicting work from different loan servicers. Moving forward, all participants in HAMP will be assigned a single account manager who will assume responsibility for coordinating loan documents and communicating with the homeowner.

“I am pleased with this effort to limit the burden on homeowners frustrated by the delays, confusion and conflicting messages from various mortgage servicers,” Shaheen said. “In this economic climate, it’s more important than ever that homeowners receive the professional guidance they need to avoid foreclosures and stay in their homes. This measure will help us meet that goal.”

Shaheen has been an active voice in pushing for these regulatory standards. This past March, she sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner pressing for the Single Point of Contact reform and advocating several other procedural changes to outdated loan policies. She also recently joined a bipartisan group of Senators in cosponsoring the Regulation of Mortgage Servicing Act, which would help bring fairness and transparency to the mortgage servicing process.