Home Affordable Modification

Hi L.,

I have not been through this but my horrible mortgage lender (rhymes with Race) caused me to become very interested in the topic. Please look up Abigal Field's columns on Dailyfinance.com--she addresses the issue of "lost paperwork," etc. http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/making-tria...

Also here is a link to the laws pertaining to foreclosure in your state--not that I'm saying thet'll try to do that! http://www.foreclosure.com/statelaw_TX.html

I include that only because they began pre-foreclosure proceedings on us after I transposed numbers on a check (I shorted them $16.83; they placed the balance in a "suspense fund" and demanded another FULL mortgage payment). I found out my rights and was able to clean things up, but it took a lot of time and worry.

If on the off chance they do something shady and try to tell you you have to be in default to qualify, don't listen to them! Call a federal agency such as HUD or HAMP and they should be able to help you. If the bank tries to tell you they will sell your house (doubtful in this market), demand that they "produce the note" (that proves their ownership of the mortgage). With all of the splitting and selling off of mortgages in the past years, they probably can't.

These are the things they do not want the consumer to know. Good luck!

I have done modification in the past and it takes a while- up to a year or more. It is nightmarish, but in the end it pays off. I got a lower interest rate, so it's worth it.

I read an article not too long ago that millions of people across the country are going through exactly what you are describing. Because this is a government-sponsored program, many private companies are having to jump through ever-changing government requirements, which passes on to you. More than that, however, private companies are being forced to take part in this program, reluctantly, because it takes a while for them to become reimbursed for the money that they lose from modifying your loan. In the hopes that the laws will change, they are dragging out modifications, purposely, as long as they possibly can. It is a horrible and often humiliating experience for the homeowner, but keep trudging through, it will pay off in the end!

A friend of mine did it and was succussful but said it was a HUGE pain in the butt. My sister is trying now. I don't know what bank though. Keep trying. Good luck

It was a nightmare and total fail for us. We started submitting paperwork in August of 2009, had to apply twice because they lost everything (CitiGroup), then got on a trial plan in October 2009. Made three payments and then were told that we didn't qualify for the plan and had to apply for an in-house modification (which is where we had started to begin with). Submitted everything to Citi again in January, then again in April, then again in June. After the June submission (to yet another department) they sold our loan to Selene Finance, a company that does nothing but buy underwater mortgages for a fraction of what they buyer owes (so Citi took a huge loss to get this off their books) and then either rehabs the loan or quickly forecloses. Selene then had us submit all of our financials again last summer, then AGAIN in September. They finally offered us a trial plan in November and we made four ridiculously large payments. After that, they "forgave" tens of thousands in bogus fees, late payments, interest etc. and dropped our interest to a reasonable rate (6.25%) but kept the principal the same ($100K more than the current value) so now we're on a temporary plan for the time being that's the same amount we were having trouble paying Citi in 2009. After "a few months" of good payment history, they will "take a loss" (never mind that they bought this for half of the actual principal so they are making a nice profit) and try to get us set up with an FHA lender for a 30-year fixed note that's at the home's current value. If that happens, it will lower our payment and help us build equity, but in the meantime, it's been two years of hell, tens of thousands in payments not credited to our account, and our credit is beyond trashed.

All of this started when my husband was laid off and I asked Citi to lower our ridiculous interest rate to something reasonable. What a waste of time, money, and resources for everyone.

My sister has had success with NACA. I would look into that while you're working on this. HAM sounds great on paper but it's just not working. I hope you have better luck than we did!

Yes, we did it and were successful. I was told by our mortgage company that since it is a federal program, the requirements and paperwork keep changing from the government end. We just kept submitting whatever they asked for. Our mortgage dropped by $400 a month. Keep at it!

Yes and I had Wells Fargo... It was a NIGHTMARE THOUGH!!!!!!! It could easily be case by case but it took us 14 months and 3 trials to finally lock us in..... And it wasn't even Wells that locked us in, another company bought our loan and within 2 months locked us in...... DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were soooooooooooooooooooooo many times that I wanted to say screw this and I'm so happy I didn't... You could have a long road ahead of you but it's worth it in the end... PS when they offered a permanent modification, I didn't like the lock in price and denied it (that was about 9 months into it)... So if it's still too much (cause obviously they still want to make money) you can say it's still too high.. GOOD LUCK!!!!!! don't give up~

Hi L.,

My husband is a property inspector for home modifications. He works for multple banks (one of which is Wells Fargo). What I know is that the quicker you jump through the hoop, the better your chances of getting things done before the rules/laws change. These things drag on for months and so many people simply give up from mental exhaustion. Hang in there. They do work and I have seen some happy people but they are always the aggressive ones that don't give up.

I do hear horror stories of papers going to the wrong departments or getting lost. Make sure you have multiple copies of what you have sent and make sure you mail them to the exact address they give you. The people at the bank are just people. The mental exhaustion going around is not exclusive to the folks on your end of the process. I know my husband is working from sun up to sun down six days a week. Believe me, you are NOT alone in this.

God bless and I wish you a speedy process!

M.