[notz]

Has anyone applied for, been successful with Loan Modification? I'm checking into it as an option. Is it an oasis or just bunk?

I really don't want us to lose this house nor do we wish to move. We're in a really good area and our property has retained its value in spite of the economy.

I'm interested in any experience or hearsay with this or other options. Help me learn more!

[Perna]

It's real but I think it's for those whose houses have lost value but the loan is still the same, so in essence they're paying for more than their house is worth and they have other money issues. The Government is trying to help with getting what's owed and what it's worth closer to matching so they're paying for what they've got or they'll evaluate and point out if people have houses they really couldn't have afforded no matter what.

Housing values can't go up again until all the foreclosures and "cheap" houses are off the market and cause/effect works again; if there is another house like yours in the neighborhood that is cheaper then your house has to be cheaper, etc. But it sounds like your neighborhood is fine.

If you have some equity, you might look at your interest rate and see if refinancing is a good idea; the interest rates are still pretty much close to their lowest. Refinancing can lower your monthly payments too and that's just a regular/normal bank thing, especially if your house still has good value. We just refinanced (had to because we had a variable rate and our term was going to be up within the year) and our house had lost a little value so that made finding the right/least expensive refinance/interest rate a little more complicated.

So, it's all basically:

Person A has fancy house, low income - they'll lose the house

Person B has normal house, normal or lost income, normal house has lost value and they want to stay/move but (1) their mortgage is higher than they can now pay because of lost income and they can't get a refinance because the house has lost too much value or (2) they want/have to move (perhaps because they can't afford the mortgage anymore) but no one will buy the house (so they can't afford to buy the next house)

Person B is who the program is for.

[(JD)]

It's very real. Make sure you use a verified source though. I would check with your Better Business Bureau or community city hall etc for a list.

Modifying your home will cost you at least 50 points on your credit score. But hey, that's much better than a foreclosure, you know?

Here in Miami they had a blitz (ends today) and had over 50,000 homeowners modify their mortgages. Many received 3% for 30 years.

I'd read the small print though, there may be exclusions about how soon, or if, you can sell the house, etc....

If you need it, check it out. But do so today, the end time might be Federally set.

[Catherine2]

http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/modi...igibility.html

the link is a good place to get general ideas, notz...

my own experience with it?
bluntly...I wish I had not taken this route
'course I'm in the company of other good people who wanted to do the right thing...but have found delay after delay after delay.

If you go this route, read the fine print very carefully, my friend.

[Amazonmom]

What's the poison pill in the fine print?

I ask because I am considering a Home Affordable Refinance and it seems fairly straightforward. The only real problem I see is the process taking so long that people end up in foreclosure.

[Catherine2]

Jmo...others may not have had the same problems.
In all fairness, there are some companies that are doing a good job--mine is not one of them.

If not approved for the change, the difference between the regular payment and the trial payment adds up, along with late fees, and "other charges."
No one has yet been able to tell me what these other charges are...
Late fees are now being challenged and may be removed with the program changes issued April 5th by the Treasury Department.
If they are allowed to remain, if I cannot pay off all accumulated charges, I'll lose my home.
If a payment plan would be set up, there would still be a late fee for every month I did not bring it current.
'Course this is based on many talks with CSRs, who were poorly trained, in several different departments.

One example; I spoke with one who insisted I had been employed in manufacturing and had been laid off...I demanded to know the address and that is when she realized she had the wrong person.
Never did find out if my paperwork was somehow mixed in with this other woman's paperwork.

It is a long process...I started back in Sept.
The first problem was the application package they sent did not contain all the paperwork. Over the last several months, I have emailed/faxed/spoken with them at least twice a week...sometimes more.
Finally, today I was told all paperwork was in order and would be sent to my mortgage company for review...which can take 30-45 business days.

Right--I've been told that twice only to have someone call me that they were missing some information.

MSN Money and the NYT have had excellent articles about the problems of this program...in reading the comment section, I found out that I was not the only one experiencing these things. There were several comments where people actually ended up with a higher payment and interest rate. Others had the accumulated fees...some were over $2-3,000.

I cannot change anything now, but hindsight shows me I should have tried toughing it out...or contacted a certified HUD housing counselor.
Things may actually be easier now, though. With any new program, problems are going to be identified in the early stages.
Hopefully they are being addressed so others will not go through it.
...the three biggest offenders are now saying that it will put them even more behind because of the new rules.

all just my experience with my mortgage company and it's servicing agency

there are two organizations that are running interference for homeowners in my situation...stuck in a never ending cycle.

[Perna]

Yes, one's mortgage holder is a key ingredient to how easy/quick things are.

We had to refinance anyway because our variable rate mortgage was running out and our mortgage company got all excited and said they could do it free and painlessly, no hoop jumping through (since they were already held our mortgage so had all the facts about us and our home) etc. and then the run around started. . . Several months later we were told we didn't qualify for that loan (that they had found for us, LOL. It was one of these new one's under Obama but we haven't ever been in "trouble" with our mortgage and weren't looking for relief of any sort, so it wasn't related to what we were looking for!) and they tried to keep the $300 they'd charged us!

We got the $300 back and learned they didn't really have any plans that would be a deal for us so we went looking elsewhere and found a great place; the entire thing was done online in about a week, very painless and the mortgage went up minimally (we'd switched types to fixed and the interest rate on this one was higher than our old 5-year rate that was running out).

Starting as soon as you can so you can take your time and work on making sure everything is right made it a bit less stressful for us. Even though the first try didn't pan out, nothing was lost because we still had plenty of time before our then mortgage would have run out. With the initial interview of several sources to see where to get the best deal, we got a sense of how our mortgage would change and what the issues/costs were so taking a bit of time until they went into effect helped us get use to the idea and shift our spending, etc.

[Catherine2]

Thank you, Perna, for sharing your experience...

I was not late with my payments but was struggling to make the payment due to unexpected events...my thought was to have my loan modified in hopes of getting back on my feet.
After years of hard work and frugality those unexpected events drained my savings.

Although I hate the reasons for it, I am in good company...good folks doing their best to get through a rough time.

[hesterprynne]

i have tried it, but without success. i was making close to 40K. now i make 10/hour.
we have a fannie mae mortgage. the payments are 1200/month. we are a month behind, and i fear we will lose our home. i tried the modification through fannie. get this...their best deal, a 40 year at 2% interest would lower my payments to 800 a month. but i don't make enough money!!! it has to be less than 31% of your gross income. i asked why was it i could make the higher payment, but not qualify for the lower one, and was told that's just the way it is.