GOP Claims Mortgage Rescue Books Are Cooked

March 17, 2010— -- Republicans are charging that the Obama administration has cooked the books on its home mortgage rescue program to make it look like it's a success when, they claim, it is actually a flop.

Even some Democrats are starting to doubt whether the Home Affordable Modification Program is an historic success or a colossal failure.

The Obama administration announced last week that banks were finally becoming more generous to desperate homeowners and the number of mortgages granted lower finance rates had increased in February by 45 percent.

Now that over 1.3 million homeowners have received offers to participate in the program, the administration said they are now more than a third of the way towards reaching the plan's goals.

The White House got to those encouraging numbers by changing the definition of what they consider to be a help to a homeowner in danger of defaulting on a mortgage, Republicans argue.

The $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, which was launched last year, provides federal incentives for banks to lower the mortgages of borrowers.

Under the terms of the program, a borrower first receives a temporary mortgage modification. If the borrower makes payments throughout the 90-day trial period, the loan modification can be made permanent.

A government website outlining the program says the administration's goal is to "reach up to 3-4 million at-risk homeowners" and "reduce the amount homeowners owe per month to sustainable levels."

The problem seems to be what the definition of sustainable is.

If the number of homeowners receiving temporary loan modifications count towards the program's goal of three to four million, then the program is on track to fulfill its goals. As of the end of February, around 1.3 million homeowners have received temporary modifications.