Number of permanent loan modifications: 299,000.

Number of trial modifications canceled:  278,000.

Number of “active trials”: 637,353.

Number of trial modifications started over the last seven months: 660,000.

“That suggests that the HAMP trial period is about 7 months!” writes Calculated Risk (CR), a financial blog. CR’s observation does seem to coincide with the feedback we’ve received from some readers of this blog: the trial portion of the loan mod process is taking far longer than the three-month period it’s designed to last; and more often than not, borrowers aren’t surviving this trial stage.

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About a month ago, one of our readers emailed me and asked why the mortgage industry wasn’t making things easier for borrowers who didn’t walk away from their mortgages. Angry over the fact that borrowers were walking away from their responsibilities, furthering the problems that have contributed to the housing downturn — “Walking away only because you are underwater is only going to further the problem” — our reader suggested, “If we can arm the people that will continue to pay with some ammunition, maybe they can help.”

A recent announcement by Fannie Mae is step in that very direction. On applications submitted after July 1, 2010, borrowers who lost their homes via a short sale will only have to wait two years before they can apply for another Fannie-backed mortgage. Previously, borrowers had to wait at least four years.

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Sometimes there are so many good topics out there to write about that we just don’t have time to cover them all in depth. In the same vein as our weekly recap, I wanted to touch on several interesting topics that have been both relevant and interesting this week.

J.P. Morgan Earns More than Expected in Fourth Quarter of ‘09: Hey, at least they’ll have money to pay the new “financial crisis responsibility fee.” J.P. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon’s not-so-optimistic comments note some of their struggles that lay ahead: Read the rest of this entry »