Mortgage lenders completed about 1.65 million permanent loan modifications through November vs. 1 million foreclosure sales, according to Hope Now. The private sector mortgage alliance said it held 40 homeowner outreach events in 29 cities across the nation in 2010 and it expects another busy year for 2011. “The past year was no doubt the busiest in our short history,” Executive Director Faith Schwartz said. “Hope Now’s partners have worked tirelessly to help American homeowners and have made a significant difference to those at risk. The housing crisis is far from over, but our servicer members and counseling partners continue to provide homeowners with viable solutions on a daily basis.” For November, Hope Now said mortgage servicers closed about 82,000 proprietary loan modifications while the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program completed nearly 30,000. Hope Now said the number of modifications are currently outnumbering the number of foreclosure sales two to one. For the year to date, there have been about 482,700 HAMP permanent modifications and 1.17 million proprietary modifications, according to Hope Now. The level of mortgages 60-plus days delinquent fell steadily through 2010 with a monthly average of 3.5 million. “Hope Now plans to continue its aggressive homeowner outreach, which includes member participation in one major outreach event per month, in partnership with the U.S. Treasury,” the firm said. “These events are slated for regions that have been affected the most by foreclosure and mortgage delinquency. Events scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada and San Jose, California are already on the books for January and February.” Write to Jason Philyaw.