HAMP has "Failed to Make a Dent in the Foreclosure Crisis"

Today the Congressional Oversight Panel issued its oversight report of over 170 pages reviewing the Department of Treasury's Foreclosure Prevention Programs. The report reviews where HAMP stands today, reviews the future of HAMP, and sets forth conclusions and recommendations. Annex I to the report reviews lessons from the Home Owners' Loan Corporation of the 1930s and 1940s. The report states that despite the tweeking of HAMP since its April 2010 report, the concerns with the program have not been resolved. The report states that it presently estimates that HAMP will "prevent only 700,000 to 800,000 foreclosures - far fewer than the 3 to 4 million foreclosures that Treasury initially aimed to stop, and vastly fewer than the 8 to 13 million foreclosures expected by 2012." It further notes that since "Treasury's authority to restructure HAMP ended on October 3, 2010, the program's prospects are unlikely to improve substantially in the future." The report concludes that HAMP has failed to "make a dent in the foreclosure crisis" and that Treasury has "failed to acknowledge HAMP's shortcomings in time."