We Buy Houses Blog, REO, Stop Foreclosure Home Loan Modifications Blog

I have found loan modification that will lower my interest rate, but I’d like the amount of my loan lowered or forgiven. If there are program that does this?

The bad news is not everyone can qualify for a mortgage loan modification. Loan modifications are designed to help homeowners who can still afford to pay a slightly modified mortgage. It is not supposed resolve all troubled mortgages.

A good place to start is the website the Federal Government set up to educate homeowners about the loan modification process. See www.makinghomesaffordable.gov.
Basically there are 5 requirements to qualify for a loan modification. They are:

1. The home needs to be the homeowner’s primary residence;
2. The mortgage must be less than $729,750;
3. The homeowner is having trouble making their existing mortgage payment;
4. The mortgage was established before January 1, 2009; and
5. The homeowner payment on their first mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes, insurance and homeowner’s association dues) is more than 31% of their current gross income.

Homeowners don’t need to pay a company to obtain a loan modification. However, sometimes it can be better to have someone, such as a lawyer or credit counselor, negotiate on your behalf. A good strategy is to talk to as many experts as you can prior to contacting your bank. Many of these services will give you a free consultation.

A good site I used to begin the education process can be found at http://www.credit-hub.net/loan-modification where I entered some details about my current mortgage and the company got back to me multiple loan modification proposals.

On Dec 1, I made a house payment of $789. The same day I received a Fedex letter from Bank of America telling me to sign a loan modification agreement and to send in $662.65 before Dec 14. This was the new monthly payment that was figured out for me. This payment was suppose to be the Jan. payment for 2010. They received their documents Dec 11. along with the $662.65. These documents explained the new interest rate along with the breakdown on taxes and insurance for the new monthly payment. On dec. 14, I received another Fedex letter telling me to send another $709 starting today for the next three months for a trial period. My loan has been sent to BAC Home Loan Servicing, LP who has set me up a new act. #. Does this sound right. Can BAC change my payment after it was already signed and notarized and all deadlines met. My house payment started out at $789 a month they are now asking for over $2100 from me this month of Dec.. If I had that kind of money I wouldn’t need to remodify my loan. Does any body know what all the steps are that I am going to have to meet to get remodified? Or does it sound like a mistake was made somewhere along the way. Please help me understand the process I am going thru.

Hopefully you have a copy of the notorized terms of your new agreement with Bank of America. Just as a backup.

Just call up BAC and ask them to clearly explain to you how they are comming up with this new monthly payment of $709. That looks to me like they may have added some other fee to your $662 payment – maybe and additional adjustment for homeowners insurance or property taxes? You will need to confirm with them that you already sent in a payment of $622 to Bank of America (if you have verification that the payment was sent – receipt etc provide that to them).

If the loan was just transfered it is more than likely that they transfer was made at the same time you were sending in your payment. When you talk to the servicer you should be able to get everything cleared up. If you have proof of payment Bank of America is responsible to forward the payment you make to BAC. If your loan has already been modified you can decline the modification trial period that BAC sent you and continue on with your already modified payment.

Finally, when it comes to banks – sometimes the left hand doesn’t talk to the right hand. It definately looks like there was a mistake here – a few conversations and you’ll get it straightened out. If not, you may need an attorney to help enforece the terms of the modified loan you just signed with Bank of America.

Best of luck to you

I applied the loan mod under home affordability plan in May 09. I was told my application has been disqualified from under affordability plan and then transferred to conventional loan mod plan. I have loan from Bank of America, backed by Freddy Mac. What’s the difference?

Stop trying to go it alone and talk to some professionals. Talk to lots of loan mod companies and attorneys. Don’t stop with just one. Ask lots of questions and you’ll get lots of free, useful information. Some will try to pressure you to go with them but just ignore it. Start now! Don’t think that the bank has your best interests in mind, especially those bandits at BoA/Countrywide. They’re trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you.

Consider calling HUD at (800) 569-4287 and take advantage of their free financial counseling services. Another good place to start is the website the Federal Government set up to educate homeowners about the loan modification process. See www.makinghomesaffordable.gov.

Homeowners don’t need to pay a company to obtain a loan modification. However, sometimes it can be better to have someone, such as a lawyer or credit counselor, negotiate on your behalf. A good strategy is to talk to as many experts as you can prior to contacting your bank. Many of these services will give you a free consultation.

A good site I used to begin the education process can be found at http://www.credit-hub.net/loan-modification where I entered some details about my current mortgage and the company got back to me multiple loan modification proposals.

How and where to get foreclosure listings from internet?

if you are looking for national foreclosures listings website, check out this site

http://foreclosure-listings-national.com/

Here you can get access to all foreclosures in usa.

We are 3 months behind on our house payments because my husband recently lost his job. We got a letter in the mail yesterday and have 30 days to come up with the money. If we can’t our home will be foreclosed. If we can’t come up with the money what should we do? I have tried to get a modification loan and the guy to me we didn’t qualify. What are other steps we should take? We live in Kansas if that helps.

If you want to continue living in your house, you need to call your lender again and tell them you need to be considered for a loan modification. If one person says you can’t, then call back and talk to someone else – be persistent! Depending on who your lender is, the number you call is transferred to different parts of the country and the "clerks" that answer the phones may have a different answer. Also, they aren’t always updated or even educated on their loan modification programs, so be persistent.

Being unemployed doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from being approved for a loan mod but having a job definitely helps. You have a legitimate hardship and the lender is supposed to assist you. Did your husband receive a severance package? Or is he receiving unemployment benefits? You’ll need to prove to the lender that he’s trying to get a job for them to consider the loan mod. They want to make sure that, if they modify your loan, you’ll be able to afford the new, lower payment. Don’t settle for a forbearance plan, whereas they’ll let you make catch up payments. Your monthly payment will be higher. That defeats the purpose of what you are trying to do and may even put you into a worse financial situation.

Once the lender has all of the required documentation and information from you (i.e. pay stubs, bank statements, income and expenses, etc.), your file will go into review and the foreclosure process will be postponed, but not stopped, pending their decision of your loan mod. Be sure to follow up weekly with them once you submit everything. Keep on top of things, because if something slips through the cracks, the foreclosure process will continue, sometimes without you even knowing.

If you don’t want to live there anymore, then you need to put your house on the market or short sale it if you owe more than what your house is worth. Enlist the services of a Realtor and they’ll be able to help you with the short sale. Don’t just walk away from the house as this will have a more adverse affect on your credit as opposed to a short sale. A foreclosure will drop your FICO scores about 200 to 300 points whereas a short sale will drop it by 50 to 150 points.

I co-signed on a large real estate loan that may be in trouble eventually. Aside from that I co-own 3 pieces of property with my spouse. One of them is our home. She did not sign on the big loan with me. Are any of the pieces of property co-owned with spouse at risk from creditors? what is at risk?

Yes, indeed! You should talk to a good real estate attorney.