The Washington Post says participation in the federal government's foreclosure relief program is low.
The article, published Friday using figures released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury the day before, says just 4 percent of homeowners in the Making Home Affordable program have proceeded past the trial period to achieve a permanent loan modification.
The treasury department says the average savings for a homeowner who achieves a loan modification is more than $550 a month. But, it concedes, servicers have converted only 31,382 of 728,000 modifications to the permanent phase.
The reports shows there are 534 Vermont loans in the modification process. (See map below.)
"Struggling homeowners across the country continue to receive immediate relief in the form of reduced monthly payments and a second chance to stay in their homes," said Chief of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office (HPO) Phyllis Caldwell.
"Our focus now is on working with servicers, borrowers and organizations to get as many of those eligible homeowners as possible into permanent modifications."
"Our challenge now is to keep the pressure on," said HUD Senior Advisor for Mortgage Finance William Apgar. "HUD approved counselors are working with borrowers to ensure they are doing their part to transition into sustainable permanent modifications and we will ensure that servicers convert as many of those modifications by the end of the year as scheduled as they are scheduled to."
You can read Treasury's full report online (PDF).