Obama mortgage-aid effort struggles as nearly half of those enrolled fall out of program

Nearly 50 percent leave Obama mortgage-aid program

WASHINGTON — Nearly half of homeowners seeking help from the Obama administration’s flagship effort to help those at risk of foreclosure have fallen out of the program.

A new report from the Treasury Department says approximately 630,000 people who had tried to get their mortgages modified through the program have been cut loose through July. That’s about 48 percent of the 1.3 million homeowners who had enrolled since March 2009.

That’s up from more than 40 percent through June.

The report suggests foreclosures could rise in the second half of the year and weaken the ailing housing market.