Making Home Affordable

Lessons Learned Series: Customer Care

Tools and Resources Evaluation & 

Communication 

Standards

Escalation and 

Resolution Process

Financial Counseling
Table of Contents

04 Major Elements of Customer Care in MHA

05 Tools and Resources

08 Evaluation and Communication Standards

14 Escalation and Resolution Process

18 Financial Counseling

23 Lessons Learned

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Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved. The Treasury seal, Home Affordable Modification ProgramSM (HAMP®) and CheckMyNPV® 

are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. All other seals and product names are trademarks or 

registered trademarks of their respective agencies.

March 3, 2017
Financial Counseling

Customer Care

Making Home Affordable (MHA) established standards for 

affordable and sustainable foreclosure prevention solutions, and 

customer service relationships between mortgage servicers and 

homeowners. From its inception, MHA sought to make the 

homeowner’s experience as transparent and predictable as 

possible. This effort included partnering with stakeholders and 

requiring servicers to exhibit high professional standards of care in 

all interactions with homeowners.

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Tools and Resources Evaluation & 

Communication 

Standards

Escalation and 

Resolution Process
Major Elements of Customer Care in MHA

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Helped 

homeowners 

understand the 

modification 

process, and 

sought to reach 

underserved 

communities.

Escalation and 

Resolution Process

Evaluation & 

Communication 

Standards

Financial Counseling

Tools and 

Resources

Required 

standardized forms 

and notices to 

provide timely and 

accurate 

communication 

about the process.

Provided access 

to free 

foreclosure 

prevention 

assistance via 

centralized 

helplines and 

escalation 

centers. 

Adopted 

integrated 

financial 

counseling 

requirements 

and approaches.
Tools and Resources

CheckMyNPV.com: 

• Free web-based tool designed to: assist homeowners in understanding the Home Affordable 

Modification Program (HAMP®) net present value (NPV) evaluation process; allow homeowners to 

conduct an NPV self-evaluation of their mortgage; and facilitate dialogue between homeowners and 

servicers about the factors considered in the NPV evaluation and HAMP application process. 

MHA Support Centers: 

• Homeowner's HOPETM Hotline: 24-hour helpline operated by the non-profit Homeownership 

Preservation Foundation provided free foreclosure prevention information and housing counseling 

referrals.

• Assisted homeowners with questions about their eligibility for MHA programs, and connected 

homeowners with detailed program or denial questions to the MHA escalation centers. 

Outreach and Borrower Intake Project:

• A nationwide network of HUD-approved housing counseling agencies engaged by Treasury to 

increase outreach and support to homeowners who were potentially eligible for MHA, but may not 

have responded to traditional outreach methods.

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Ensured transparency of the process to obtain mortgage assistance for the 

protection of all parties. 
MHA Homeowner Assistance Call Centers

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* Excludes escalations that did not require servicer action.

** Non-GSE escalations resolved since 2/1/11.
Outreach and Borrower Intake Project

• NeighborWorks® expanded program outreach efforts:

• Arranged for trained housing counselors to be 

available at each Treasury MHA outreach event. 

• Planned and conducted targeted, counselor-led 

homeowner outreach events. 

• Offered participating agencies and their 

counselors a variety of webinars and place-based 

training, including a two-day, in-person training 

course through the NeighborWorks Training 

Institute on how to help homeowners obtain 

MHA assistance.

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Outreach and 

Training

Number of 

Events

Outreach

Traditional 15

Counselor Led 11

Training 

In-Person 14

Web-Based 8

Treasury partnered with NeighborWorks America to implement the MHA Outreach and 

Borrower Intake Project. This partnership utilized a nationwide network of housing counseling 

organizations to reach homeowners who were potentially eligible for MHA, but may not have 

responded to traditional outreach methods. Participating HUD-approved counseling agencies 

conducted targeted local outreach, provided preliminary assessments of a homeowner’s 

eligibility for MHA, and helped homeowners complete and submit applications for assistance 

under MHA.
Evaluation & Communication Standards

Single Point of Contact for Homeowner Assistance:

• Required the largest servicers participating in MHA to establish and implement a process through 

which homeowners would be assigned a relationship manager to serve as their single point of 

contact throughout the resolution process. 

Simplification of Documentation and Submission Methods:

• Created a uniform application that all homeowners seeking MHA assistance were required to 

complete. Initially called the Request for Modification and Affidavit, this application was later 

renamed the Request for Mortgage Assistance or RMA form.

Standardization of Communications:

• Established standards for communications, solicitations, and notices that provided consistency to 

similarly situated homeowners.

Foreclosure Protections and Prohibitions: 

• Required servicers to suspend a scheduled foreclosure sale in order to evaluate a homeowner for 

MHA, and prohibited them from conducting a foreclosure sale before providing a written 

certification to foreclosure counsel or the trustee attesting that all loss mitigation options had been 

considered and exhausted.

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Ensured that there was a simple process in place for homeowners to seek 

mortgage assistance and that as many homeowners as possible were able 

to easily obtain the needed and appropriate level of assistance. 
Single Point of Contact Model

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The largest MHA participating servicers were required to assign a relationship manager to each homeowner 

potentially eligible for MHA, to serve as the homeowners’ dedicated single point of contact through the 

entire application and resolution process. Treasury issued this requirement to improve the homeowner’s 

experience working with their servicer as they sought to avoid foreclosure. Prior to this, homeowners 

typically had to work with several individuals across different servicer departments, with no assurance that 

any single individual knew all aspects of their situation. And, if a homeowner wished to pursue a short-sale 

or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, they would likely have had work with yet another team. 
Single Point of Contact Model

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Relationship Managers were required to:

 Promptly contact and provide written notice to the homeowner within five business days 

of being assigned. The notice had to include a toll-free contact number for reaching the 

relationship manager directly, other contact options, and the preferred method for 

sending documents;

 Communicate all options available to the homeowner, and the actions the homeowner 

must take to be considered for these options;

 Track all documents so that the homeowner would not be required to re-submit 

documents, and to ensure prompt notification of a need for additional documents;

 Respond to inquiries, be knowledgeable about the homeowner’s current status, and 

communicate underwriting decisions in a timely manner;

 Coordinate with other servicer personnel responsible for ensuring that a homeowner 

determined to be ineligible for MHA was considered for other options; and,

 Be properly trained, have appropriately-sized caseloads consistent with policy timelines, 

and be supported by others in the servicer organization who could fulfill these 

responsibilities when the homeowner’s assigned relationship manager was unavailable.
Standardization of Communications

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MHA consistently conveyed the degree of specificity that was expected from servicers 

while establishing consistency of communications with similarly situated homeowners.

Established Standards for Homeowner Communications & 

Notices:

• Strove to make the process for obtaining assistance, and the 

terms of the provided assistance, as clear, straightforward and 

comprehensible as possible.

• Mandated specific key information be included.

• Provided model language for servicer use.

• Required that information about available options and 

application processes were available to all appropriate parties. 

• Established that the following be provided on all notices to 

homeowners:

• Toll-free number for a servicer representative able to 

explain the content of the notice;

• HOPETM Hotline toll-free number; and

• Any information, disclosures, or notices required by the 

mortgage documents and applicable federal, state and 

local law. 
Solicitation Requirements

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Advised 

homeowner of 

their potential 

eligibility for 

HAMP.

Clearly described 

the initial 

application 

package and 

submission 

steps.

Provided toll-free 

number to contact 

a servicer 

representative.

Identified unique requirements for submissions received more than 30 days late. In addition, servicers were 

required to have made a ‘reasonable effort’ to solicit a homeowner over a period of 30 days. This effort 

required a minimum of four telephone calls and two written notices, including one by certified mail.
Non-Approval Notice Requirements

Treasury required servicers to include specific information in all Non-Approval Notices and 

established timelines for providing such notices.

Required to include language that:

• Provided primary reason(s) for the non-approval - Model language provided in the MHA 

Handbook.

• Provided NPV inputs used in HAMP determination, where applicable.

• Included a description of other foreclosure alternatives and the steps that needed to be 

undertaken to be considered for those options. 

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Escalation and Resolution Process

Case Escalation Support Teams:

• Supported homeowners and authorized advisors with questions or concerns about the 

solutions being offered by the servicer.

Standardized Case Escalation Process and Forms:

• Established standardized forms and timelines for servicer responses. Standardized 

forms were required from servicers when responding to disputes submitted on behalf of 

the homeowner by the escalation centers. The forms captured the information 

necessary to process escalated cases efficiently and provided consistency in the 

information provided to centers. The Servicer Template Guide provided servicers 

detailed instructions on how to correctly complete and submit the standardized 

escalation forms. 

Escalation of Disputed Non-Approvals:

• Provided an independent review for homeowners with questions regarding their denial.

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Treasury established a framework that offered homeowners, authorized 

advisors, and servicers consistency, transparency and an independent 

vehicle to resolve MHA-related issues. Two case escalation centers provided

a crucial third-party resource for concerns and disputes regarding 

applications to MHA programs.
Case Escalation Support Teams

• The MHA Help team received 

detailed program or denial questions 

from the HOPETM Hotline and was 

dedicated exclusively to working with 

homeowners and servicers to resolve 

MHA escalated cases.

• The HAMP Solution Center (HSC) was 

a resolution resource established to 

manage escalated cases received 

from housing counselors, 

government offices, and other third 

parties acting on behalf of a 

homeowner.

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Case Escalation Paths From Requestor to Servicer

Escalations

Resolved 60

Thousand

Average Time to

Resolve non-GSE 

Escalations

22

Days
Case Escalation Process

For each Escalated Case, the servicer was required to: 

• Determine whether a change in the original determination was warranted.

• Document the resolution determination and the pending or proposed resolution, including next steps, for 

the homeowner.

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*Due to the MHA Program termination and borrower application sunset, effective December 1, 2017, MHA Help and HSC will no longer accept new cases nor escalate 

new cases to servicers. 
Escalation of Disputed Non-Approvals

• To facilitate review and response to cases escalated to servicers by HSC and MHA 

Help, servicers were required to report to HSC or MHA Help the status of referred 

escalated cases and, upon request, provide all necessary information required to 

assess a homeowner’s escalated case, including, but not limited to:

• Debt and income inputs, assumptions, and calculations used to evaluate the 

homeowner;

• Name of the investor/guarantor and Pool ID if the reason for denial was 

“Investor/Guarantor Not Participating,” unless restricted by confidentiality;

• Correspondence by either the homeowner or the servicer relative to the 

applicable MHA program evaluation;

• Timeline of events constructed by the servicer relative to the applicable MHA 

program evaluation; and

• Other relevant data relied upon by the servicer in conducting the evaluation.

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Financial Counseling

Tools and Requirements:

• Since the start of the program, housing counseling resources have always been made 

available on HMPadmin.com to support trusted advisors who provide assistance to 

homeowners.

• In 2014, Treasury issued guidance requiring the largest servicers to offer free financial 

counseling to eligible homeowners who were either entering a HAMP trial modification, or 

were in a permanent HAMP modification and at risk of re-default. In addition, these 

servicers were required to provide counseling to any HAMP homeowner who requested it, 

regardless of the status of their HAMP modification.

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Treasury’s post-modification counseling requirements were designed to help 

homeowners stay current in their HAMP modifications by holistically addressing 

their current overall financial situation, in addition to the specific financial 

hardship that contributed to the default on his/her original mortgage loan. 
Financial Counseling

Homeowner Solicitation Requirements:

Servicers were required to undertake reasonable efforts to solicit homeowners for financial 

counseling using one of two methods (or a hybrid approach): 

1. “Warm Transfer” where the assigned relationship manger transfers the eligible homeowner 

directly to a counseling agency representative over the phone; or

2. “Agency Outreach” whereby the counseling agency solicits the homeowner directly based on 

an “inclusion file” of eligible homeowners provided by the servicer. 

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ALTHOUGH WARM TRANSFER WAS DEEMED

PREFERABLE AT THE OUTSET

AGENCY OUTREACH

PROVED MORE SUCCESSFUL

Warm 

Transfer Hybrid Agency 

Outreach

12.7%

12.7%

6.3%

3.8%

Post Modification 

Counseling 

Acceptance Rates
Financial Counseling

Key Features of Treasury’s Post-Modification Counseling Requirement in HAMP:

• Targeting Homeowners at Greatest Risk of Default: In addition to the basic eligibility criteria 

specified in the guidance, servicers were allowed to further define characteristics of the “at 

risk” population.

• Holistic, Individualized Counseling Sessions: Sessions included customized advice designed to 

address the homeowner’s unique financial situation, including:

• The development of a budget and action plan to reduce household debts, 

• Evaluating the issues that resulted in difficulty making monthly mortgage payments, 

• And reviewing the terms of the HAMP trial or permanent modification.

• Servicers were required to contract with a HUD-approved counseling agency of their choice. 

• Robust Reporting Requirements: Data collected early on enabled Treasury to quickly refine 

and hone policy guidance regarding solicitation, which increased take-up rates. Servicers 

were required to maintain reports detailing the number of homeowners offered counseling, 

those who started counseling, and those who completed a full counseling engagement. These 

reports have yielded useful information about the effects of counseling on loan modification 

performance.

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Financial Counseling: Early Results in HAMP

More than 500,000 homeowners have now been referred to post-modification financial 

counseling through HAMP. Early data collected by Treasury merits further analyses going 

forward as there may be additional lessons from the program that could inform future policy 

design. 

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Preliminary data indicated that homeowners who participated in financial counseling at the 

start of their HAMP trial modification performed better than homeowners who did not 

participate. 

Homeowners Remaining 

Active in HAMP

12 months after counseling

86%

Participated in Counseling 90%

Did Not Participate

In Counseling

Homeowners who chose to receive housing 

counseling performed better in their HAMP 

modifications.
• Average time to complete counseling can vary significantly by counseling agency. Early 

data showed a range of one to six months. 

• Longer counseling programs appeared to have lower completion rates.

• Homeowners who were more delinquent before beginning their HAMP trial 

modification were less likely to accept counseling.

• The take-up rate was significantly affected by the method used to solicit homeowners.

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Financial Counseling: Preliminary Takeaways

While Treasury is still collecting and analyzing the data from its post-modification 

counseling requirements, some interesting patterns have emerged that merit additional 

research and interpretation. As policymakers evaluate future approaches to financial 

counseling programs, these and other data trends should be considered:
Lessons Learned and Best Practices for 

Future Policy

• Simplicity and Consistency in Communication and Documentation 

• Transparent Sources of Information

• Access to Third Party Assistance 

• Standardized Independent Review Process

• Access to Financial Counseling

• Develop Partnerships and Leverage External Resources

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