Homeowner Facing Foreclosure Pleased With IndyMac Loan Modification; Initiative To Become Industry Blueprint, FDIC Chair Hopes

BusinessWeek reports:

• When Mark Akers got an offer from his mortgage lender in September to slash his monthly payments down to $2,500, from $4,200, he jumped at the chance. The Norco (Calif.) resident ran into trouble earlier this year after his wife got sick and he lost his job managing a factory that made doors for houses. The 53-year-old Akers could have become another foreclosure statistic if his bank, IndyMac, had not stepped forward to halve the interest rate on his fixed-rate loan to 3%, for a period of five years. In exchange, the bank will add Akers missed payments to the loan principal, hiking it to $611,000. Akers says he's grateful.

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• Akers is one of more than 3,000 borrowers who have signed on to a fast-track loan modification program launched by IndyMac, the insolvent California-based lender seized by the feds in July. [...] FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is hoping the IndyMac initiative will provide a blueprint for the rest of the industry.

For more, see IndyMac's Fast-Track Mortgage Modification Program (It not only can stave off foreclosures but also provide a blueprint for how the industry can tackle troubled home loans).