Personal Finance guide

Shortly after the government urged them to step up their loan modifications, mortgage loan modification servicers are finding it hard to keep up with requests and inquiries from thousands of struggling borrowers. Borrowers, on the other hand, are beginning to get frustrated at the long waits.

A performance report by the Treasury Department showed that response times varied widely from one Mortgage Company to another. Many borrowers who try to get loan modifications either have to wait several months, get evasive excuses, or get no response at all.

The report also showed that only a small fraction of troubled homeowners have benefited from the government’s loan modification program. Only 9% of borrowers who meet the loan modification requirements had been given lower monthly payments as of July. Continue reading ‘Loan Modifications Slow Down as Servicers Get Swamped’ »

What interest rate should I get with a mortgage modification?

It could be as low as 2% on a 40 year amortization. Your modified payment will depend primarily on your Current Income. Therefore, lower income means lower rates. Interestingly, the traditional risk variables that would ordinarily determine your interest rate when applying for a loan are turned on their head with the Making Home Affordable (MHA) loan modification program. Can you imagine going back a couple years and having a banker say to you, “We could give you a lower rate if you were delinquent or even if you just made less money but it appears that you can afford to pay more than your neighbor so that’s what we are going to charge”. Homeowners that are interested in benefitting from MHA shouldn’t put off applying for the home-equivalent of “Cash-for-Clunkers”. Continue reading ‘What interest rate should I get with a mortgage modification?’ »

A Saint Charles man sued his lender (First Franklin) for improperly trying to foreclose on his second home. First Franklin agreed to a Short-Sale along with debt forgiveness for the $180,000 loss that First Franklin absorbed at closing. The homeowner also walked away with $20,000 at closing that was disclosed in the sales contract and settlement statement to lender, title company and buyer. The entire credit history of the foreclosure was removed from the homeowners credit history. If there is a problem with your loan there may a surprisingly positive solution available.

A Geneva man received $5,000 “Cash for Keys” to hand over the keys to his home rather than fight foreclosure. The house had been on the market for a long time with no serious offers and was worth far less than the mortgage loan amount. Continue reading ‘Verified Short-Sale and Deed-in-Lieu Results’ »

All of the major lenders are really getting up to speed with the Making Home Affordable (MHA) loan modification program. This is essentially a “Cash for Clunkers” program for distressed homeowners. If you think that you may qualify to trade in that clunker subprime loan or perhaps are facing future interest rate adjustments on a prime loan then the time to act is now. This is an incredibly generous government program that can help homeowners adjust their mortgage payments to their financial situation rather than market conditions. Continue reading ‘How to get your mortgage modified’ »

Is your current mortgage payment (Including property tax and insurance) more than 31% of your income? The governments “Making Home Affordable” program is incredibly generous, the home equivalent of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. We have achieved mortgage payment reductions of over 50% for clients that were never late on their mortgage- they had just experienced or were about to experience a reduction in income. This includes clients that had their new mortgage payments calculated and reset based on their impending pension income rather than current employed income! There are 37 lenders participating in the “Making Home Affordable” program and working with them makes predicting an outcome easier however, we have also achieved mortgage modification for Non-participating lenders (Including West Suburban Bank and Key Bank). Continue reading ‘Mortgage Modification-Crunch the Numbers!’ »

Home mortgage lenders have never been as willing to work with homeowners on modifying mortgage terms as they are today. That said, if your mortgage lender has filed a foreclosure action against you that means they are fed up with trying to keep you in the home and are willing to assume the legal costs and potential capital loss of taking your home and selling it at auction. The Making Home Affordable “MHA” loan modification program is very powerful and many homeowners are able to successfully apply for this payment relief on their own. However, if you are past the foreclosure initiation point then it is advisable to hire a qualified Real Estate attorney before it is too late. If the clock is ticking on you then get a free online evaluation at: www.illinoismortgagemods.com and you will at least learn what options are realistic. Even if you have failed again and again on your own it is still quite possible that you meet the program guidelines and proper representation would turn that No into a Yes. A good Real Estate attorney with experience in Making Home Affordable loan modification submissions can be retained for as little as $500 upfront with any/all remaining funds due AFTER a loan modification has been offered to you. Do not pay ANY upfront loan modification fees to ANYONE that isn’t an attorney licensed to practice law in Illinois. Retain an attorney and pay for results! Continue reading ‘Stop Foreclosure Today!’ »

What should I expect when applying for a loan modification?

The first loan modification that I did was for myself in 2007 and I have been assisting homeowners ever since with this sometimes frustrating process. You absolutely can successfully get a loan modification on your own and anyone who tells you differently has an eye on your wallet. That said, it will be very frustrating, even all-consuming, to try to complete this process on your own. The lender is willing to work with you and the government even has free loan counseling but your best advocate is someone working on your behalf, not the lenders or for some non-profit. I don’t mean pay a large upfront fee, don’t do that. I suggest hiring a real estate attorney with a small upfront retainer that only charges for success and not submissions. If you hire a third party to represent you then you should expect the lender to recognize the third party agreement within 48 hours. Continue reading ‘What should I expect when applying for a loan modification?’ »

A church deacon, Truman McGill, came to me about modification possibilities after he had already lost his foreclosure hearing and had a sale date 3 weeks away. His servicer was Litton Loan Servicing and they amazingly agreed to stop the sale process once they received a complete modification request with all the supporting documents. Litton won’t hold things up for clients that make half-hearted attempts but this client was motivated and Litton proved sincere. He ended up shaving over 30% off his mortgage payment and was reset to “current” without any makeup payments. Please visit www.illinoismortgagemods.com to review even more actual loan mods delivered through us. Truman actually lives in Florida (Our Attorney is licensed in Illinois and Florida) but for details on a couple of local mods continue reading below.

A West Chicago man that lost his foreclosure hearing and had a sale date scheduled is still in his home after not making a payment for 24 months! His lender is Countrywide and once I got his file into the loss mitigation department they cancelled the sale date. There are now working on qualifying him for the Making Home Affordable program and he is likely to keep his home. He is capable of making payments going forward but can’t make up the 24 months past due. I have been able to help clients avoid upfront forbearance payments on all my loan modifications so 24 months without a payment is really 24 months without a payment! Continue reading ‘Actual loan modifications!’ »

What is the best way to seek mortgage modification?

Almost every lender/servicer cautions homeowners against paying third parties to assist with their loan modification applications. Every participating lender in the Making Home Affordable (MHA) loan modification program is capable of working directly with their borrowers to process these applications without third party assistance. There is also free government loan counseling help for homeowners that are struggling to work directly with their lenders. On the other hand, many of my clients first tried unsuccessfully on their own and were then surprised at how much quicker and better the results were when I was advocating for their application. I have a Bartlett client that was told he did not qualify for a MHA loan modification by both his servicer (National City) and a government counselor. Continue reading ‘What is the best way to seek mortgage modification?’ »

Are you having difficulty getting your mortgage servicer to work with you on a Making Home Affordable (MHA) loan modification? The below list of 37 mortgage servicers have committed by signed contract to this program. In addition, all servicers for mortgage loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are required to participate! If your home is in Illinois and you want to investigate whether you qualify for the home loan equivalent of “Cash for Clunkers” then contact a real estate attorney . The MHA program is the first real loan modification program that is making worthwhile modifications whereby homeowners come out of it with a payment they can afford. These modifications are proving to have a much lower re-default rate than previous half-hearted efforts that amounted to not much more than forbearance plans. Those stingy initial loss mitigation efforts resulted in such high re-default rates that the notion of continuing to modify mortgages at all became in serious doubt. Thankfully, the MHA program came along with a balanced view of lender, investor and finally HOMEOWNER interest in mind. Continue reading ‘37 Mortgage Servicers commit to Obama Plan’ »