A mortgage industry group yesterday estimated that companies provided significant relief to 141,000 troubled borrowers nationwide during the last three months of 2007 by modifying the terms of their loans. That is an 86 percent increase in such aid from the previous quarter.
In general, the modifications reduced a borrower's monthly payment or prevented it from increasing by freezing a scheduled jump in the interest rate.
The report by the Hope Now alliance is the most complete picture available of the industry's efforts to help overburdened borrowers. It is intended to bolster the industry's argument that there is no need for additional government intervention to prevent people from losing their homes to foreclosure.
But the number of foreclosures continues to rise. Hope Now said companies foreclosed on an estimated 147,000 homes in the fourth quarter, up 7 percent.
Also yesterday, a group of state regulators released a report criticizing the industry's efforts as insufficient.
The two reports resist direct comparison.
Both used databases containing about 60 percent of outstanding loans, but not necessarily the same 60 percent. Furthermore, the Hope Now report encompassed the fourth quarter; the states looked solely at October.
The report by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group found companies modified loan terms for only 9 percent of borrowers who sought assistance. The report also found that 66 percent of borrowers who fell behind on payments received no assistance.
"Much more needs to be done," Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said the states' report simply highlighted the industry's progress since October.
As for the unaided borrowers, the group has reported similar findings, but says those borrowers mostly fall into three categories: Investors who are not eligible for help; borrowers who are back in default even after getting help; and borrowers who cannot be contacted.
Consumer advocates say the industry isn't trying hard enough to reach borrowers, and the state report offers some evidence. The report found that two of the 13 lenders surveyed are helping more than 60 percent of their delinquent borrowers, while the remainder are helping less than 30 percent.
As for borrowers who default after receiving help, Coakley's office said they clearly had not received enough help.
Binyamin Appelbaum can be reached at bappelbaum@globe.com.
