Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage lenders, servicers, investors and various housing counselors, has begun taking steps to help homeowners fight foreclosure in the wake of the housing crisis. The group has suggested a set of guidelines involving objectives aimed at providing homeowners with loan modification assistance on a larger --- and faster --- scale than ever before. The objectives include ways to inform, expedite, protect and remedy the foreclosure situation engulfing so many homeowners across the country.
 
Servicer members within the alliance are expected to initiate the guidelines into their current lending standards. In terms of informing homeowners, HOPE Now members will establish a broader base of communications to effectively communicate with homeowners about the options they have to prevent foreclosure. Moreover, mortgage servicers in the alliance will help homeowners understand exactly what will happen when their ARM's reset and what that will do to their monthly payment. They also have pledged to let homeowners know when they are at risk of being in serious default on their loan. Service providers also will begin providing homeowners with free counseling services to assist homeowners in fighting foreclosure.
 
Members also will streamline the loan modification process, making it easier for homeowners to take advantage of this option as a way to catch up on their loan and begin anew in making monthly payments in a timely manner. They also agreed to report on how loans within their organization were performing to introduce some sense of transparency to the process.
 
 Additional options for homeowners will include increased approvals on forebearances, lower interest rats and refinancing. Loan Modification is the most popular of all options, as it utilizes a restructured loan that includes a lower interest rate and allows the homeowner to decrease his or her monthly payments, while extending the overall term of repayment of the loan, which minimizes the financial loss to the lender.

Requests for assistance also will be expedited with member companies agreeing to respond to such requests within five days and rendering a decision within 45 days. They also agree to provide the homeowner with a progress report within 30 days, to be sure the homeowner is updated on the process. More than 30 lenders are a part of the HOPE Now alliance, including major players such as Bank of America and Citigroup.