by Calculated Risk on 8/20/2008 02:03:00 PM

From the FDIC: Loan Modification Program for Distressed Indymac Mortgage Loans. A couple of excerpts:

What loans are eligible?
The streamlined loan modifications will be available for most borrowers who have a first mortgage owned or securitized and serviced by IndyMac Federal where the borrower is seriously delinquent or in default. IndyMac Federal also will seek to work with others who are unable to pay their mortgages due to payment resets or changes in the borrowers’ repayment capacities. This streamlined approach applies only to mortgages for the borrower’s primary residence. As with all modifications, borrowers will have to demonstrate their financial hardship by documenting their income.
...
What modification options will be available to borrowers?
Under the IndyMac Federal program, eligible mortgages would be modified into sustainable mortgages permanently capped at the current Freddie Mac survey rate for conforming mortgages (now about 6.5%). Modifications would be designed to achieve sustainable payments at a 38 percent debt-to-income (DTI) ratio of principal, interest, taxes and insurance. To reach this metric for affordable payments, modifications could adopt a combination of interest rate reductions, extended amortization, and principal forbearance.

This seems to provide an incentive for IndyMac borrowers to stop making their mortgage payments until they are "seriously delinquent or in default". Then the borrower - especially Alt-A borrowers who stated their income originally - would apply for a loan modification based on their actual income. The borrower could then receive an interest rate reduction and principal forbearance.

Note: I didn't see any restriction on borrowers that overstated their income originally.