“Dear Steve,
I was laid off from my job in April 2008. I have been collecting unemployment insurance and doing some contract work.
I have a first and second mortgage and some credit card debt. I am not behind nor have been late on any of my obligations. I am not upside down on my mortgage in fact I have approx. $200,000 equity.
I also have a small savings that I can and have used as a cushion during times when contract work has been lean. I have had to go without many basic things and have even cut down on the food I eat.
This last year has been quite difficult but I have survived it and I feel blessed as other people are suffering and have already lost their homes.
I applied for a loan modification on March 11. Even though I am not behind or late I was assigned to loss mitigation. It seems like the employees at my mortgage company don’t know what they are doing, can not ask the right questions or provide the correct answers to my questions. They are in conflict with what I need to document. I have provided information over the phone and have faxed hundreds of pages of documentation.
They keep asking for the same information as each time my case is assigned to a new department my information does not follow. My last two years tax returns are, by now, in every office of every employee that works on loan modifications. I have three questions I hope you can answer.
- How long should this process take, and what obligations do these mortgage companies have to complete the modifications in a timely manner?
- Given the information I provided, is there any reason why I would not qualify. I meet all the known requirements Fannie Mae etc.
- Every person I know who has applied has encountered the same experiences with their mortgage companies and they have not yet received an answer nor do they feel as though the process has moved forward. Has anyone on Earth received a loan modification that you are aware of?
Debbie”
Dear Debbie,
Your situation is one that I hear time and time again. It is not atypical at all. In fact, your list of questions is almost identical to questions from others I have received.
The loan modification program is not required or mandatory by any lender. There is nothing that requires any lender to process your request within any time period or even to process it at all.
If lenders felt that there was money to be made in the loan modification process they would be falling all over themselves to get them done. By their actions, I sense that they are not that interested in it at all.
I think you’ll find a piece I wrote before, interesting. See Loan Modifications. More PR Than ER. 57% of Monthly Payments in Modified Loans Are the Same or Higher.
Now, there are companies out there that claim they can get your loans modified for a fee, but several states, like California and Florida, have warned against this practice.
I’ve asked one loan modification company that keeps commenting here if they would take on a case for free to demonstrate their results, but so far, they have not agreed.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
Do you have a question you'd like to ask me for free? Go ahead and click here.
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I’m Trying to Get My Lender to Modify My Mortgage But They Don’t Seem to Want to – Debbie http://tinyurl.com/n954ru