'Victory' declared, credit is claimed

But lenders say governor's deal to get help for at-risk homeowners 'nothing new'

By J.N. SBRANTI
jnsbranti@modbee.com

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Gov. Schwarzenegger proclaimed "a very, very big victory for the people of California" this week in getting lenders to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, but the deal he announced apparently isn't new at all.

The governor took credit Tuesday for negotiating an agreement with mortgage lenders Countrywide Financial, GMAC Financial Services, Litton Loan Servicing and HomEq Servicing to help keep subprime borrowers in their homes.

Those four lenders, however, told The Bee on Wednesday that their lending policies haven't changed and the governor didn't get them to agree to anything new.

"The governor's principles already are in alignment with what we already do," said Larry B. Litton Jr., who heads Litton Loan Servicing. "Nothing's substantially changed."

But that's not what Schwarzenegger and his staff are telling the public.

The governor's official Web site credits Schwarzenegger with getting the four lenders "to agree to streamline 'fast-track' procedures to help keep more subprime borrowers in their homes."

In his prerecorded weekly radio address, which is to air today, Schwarzenegger said he met with lenders that agreed to "help more than 100,000 California families keep their homes."

Homeowners expecting new assistance from those four lenders may be disappointed, however, because their foreclosure procedures haven't changed.

"This is nothing new for us. We've always tried to help our borrowers," said Kim Cohen, HomEq's spokeswoman.

"We're already doing what he suggested," GMAC spokesman Stephen Dupont said. "No. Things really haven't changed."

Countrywide spokesman Rick Simon noted in an e-mail to The Bee that the philosophies and practices his company announced four weeks ago as part of its $16 billion home retention initiative "closely align with the principles the governor seeks to have the industry follow."

"Gov. Schwarzenegger's principles and Countrywide's initiative both recognize there are some fairly common borrower situations which servicers can more efficiently and effectively treat with new systematic approaches, rather than on the traditional case-by-case basis," Countrywide's Simon wrote.

According to Countrywide, here are the lending principles it and Schwarzenegger agreed to:

Reach out to borrowers well before their loans reset (to higher interest rates).

Streamline the processes by which lenders determine whether borrowers may reasonably be expected to afford reset payments.

And, for people who are in their homes and making timely payments now at the starter rate, but who lenders determine cannot make the reset payment, keep them in their initial rate for a sustained period.

While Countrywide, GMAC, Litton and HomEq "already may have been doing that," many other mortgage lenders are not, according to Sabrina Lockhart, spokeswoman for the governor.

By getting four lenders to publicly commit to modifying loans in a streamlined manner, Lockhart said, the governor hopes to "create momentum" in persuading other lenders to do the same.

Lenders expect to get something from Schwarzenegger in trade for their commitment: publicity.

Dupont of GMAC said the governor will encourage homeowners to contact lenders as soon as they believe they're going to have trouble paying their mortgage.

"Call us as early as possible in the process," Dupont urged. "If you delay, your options go away day by day."

Schwarzenegger's radio address stresses that message.

"He is lending his powerful voice, at the news conference and in the planned public service announcements, to encourage borrowers to participate in foreclosure-prevention discussions with their mortgage servicers, and not be afraid to make contact or return calls," Simon said. "The only way a servicer can provide help is through dialogue with the borrower."