The Department of Housing and Urban Development will release its mortgage-servicing scorecard during the second quarter of this year, according to a senior department official.
Charles Coulter, deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing, said the scorecard will highlight what HUD considers important for its loan servicers, particularly foreclosure prevention and loss mitigation.
The Federal Housing Administration prefers to keep people in their homes, and Coulter said that could include an increased focus on the use of the Home Affordable Modification Program in the next year.
About 11,000 FHA mortgages were modified through HAMP in fiscal 2011.
“We recognize this is about partnership,” Coulter said. “We want to continue the outreach to all of our servicers.”
The FHA also will likely continue to emphasize short sales, which Coulter said made up roughly 30% of all pre-foreclosure and foreclosure sales last year.
Servicers have until January 2013 to respond to the scorecard to receive HUD incentives.