Finally, the Mortgage Relief Progaram is Growing...a Little

I wrote in an earlier post about the dismal bank response to the "Making Home Affordable" plan, which was launched with great fanfare in March. But now, as of last month, lenders had sent out more than 571,000 offers to reduce borrowers' monthly payments.
That's still only 19 percent of the nearly 3 million homeowners eligible for a loan modification under the plan, but it's an improvement from 15 percent at the end of July.
Of the modifications offered, about 360,000 borrowers, or 12 percent, have signed up for three-month trial modifications, which are supposed to be extended for five years if the homeowners make their payments on time. To increase pressure on the industry, lawmakers have threatened to revive a failed proposal to let bankruptcy judges rewrite the terms of a mortgage.
Consumer groups say that change is necessary, because getting a lender to do so voluntarily is still a bureaucratic nightmare. Mortgage executives say they are racing to implement the program, hiring thousands of workers to handle an unprecedented flood of calls.
But many lenders are still scheduling foreclosure sales, and charging borrowers fees for participating in the Obama plan.
We are still hearing horror stories in the Realtor community.
An agent in my office told me about a bank they are trying to work with on a sale due to close escrow at the end of the month. The house was also facing foreclosure on September 24, and the bank refused an extension for five days (even though it was the bank's own delay with documents that was holding up the close) and are proceeding with the foreclosure on the courthouse steps. Their final word to my colleague: "Have a nice day!"