Anybody accomplished a mortgage loan modificacion?

[BluesBro]

Hi folks, I've just filed Chap 7 and am behind in my mortgage. I believe my home may be worth what I still owe on it. I'd like to keep it. I need a loan modification but my lender Washington Mutual/Wachovia says that I am not qualified or they don't do them bla, bla, bla

I've watched this forum but I haven't really seen anybody that actually achieved a loan mod or plan thru a third party company.

I was just called today by Universal Mortgage and their pitch sounded good.
They charge $499/month for 3-4 months it takes to achieve a modification.

Has anybody used Universal Mortgage? Any similar companies?

I'm looking at this hard and will report on my experiences hoping to help of you other people that are in similar tuff times.

[lizbebe]

First and foremost: keep paying your mortgage(s) while you work through your BK. This is critical.

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Following my BK, I was totally unsuccessful in getting the holder of my second, Citimortgage, to cooperate with my requests for a decrease in principal, interest, etc. They were rude, abusive, condescending and they "lost" my workout application. Citi does have programs to address these types of mortgage issues, but they refused to cooperate. This is common, I am afraid. Their job is to stall your efforts as long as they can.

So I hired a company in my area called Second Chance Legal Services. Within a few weeks I knew I had made a mistake because the staff was incompetent (many 20+ year olds on the staff, left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing). Perhaps there are competent loan mod firms out there, but I would not depend on this unless you have no other choice. You will sign a contract that guarantees you nothing except an *effort* to renegotiate the loan. Spend your money on your mortgage(s).

I decided to document all of the problems I had had with Second Chance, and lo and behold they cancelled the contract and gave me my $2500 back.

I played hardball with them and it worked. Then I used the money to pay my first mortgage.

Immediately after I had hired this firm, I told Citimortage Loss Mitigation that I had hired an attorney. Within days they sent my loan to pre-foreclosure and determined that there was no equity (duh) and there was no point in foreclosing since the house has lost 33% of its value. The mortgage is now in charge off mode and I am going to wait until I am contacted again re: this debt. Then I will negotiate the lowest possible settlement with the collection agency (assuming Chapter 7 and the lack of reaffirmation doesn't protect me).

I would suggest that you get back on the phone with your lenders. Keep calling and be emphatic about your desire to stay in your home. Then document, document, document. I guarantee that you will get different answers depending on who you talk to. Ask to speak to supervisors if necessary. Don't give up until you find someone who knows what workout programs are available.

Depending on their response, I would find an attorney (not a loan mod company) to assist you in the process (and make sure your mortgage companies know you have hired a lawyer). Hopefully you already have BK attorney who can assist you. Also, make sure that you talk to your attorney about the ramifications of reaffirming your loans. I reaffirmed my first mortgage but not my second. The BK judge agreed that this was a smart thing to do.

Here is a link to the WAMU (now Chase) that might help you:

<http://www.jpmorganchase.com/cm/cs?ename=Chase/Href&urlname=jpmc/community/wayforward_mortgage>

Another thing I did when going through a short sale with WAMU in 2006 was to use their incompetence against them. We had $5M in offers (10 x $500K) and WAMU had failed to accept any of them. So I called them up and reminded them that we were more than willing to drop the keys on the desk of an executive and walk away from the home (we had already moved). All of a sudden, they sat up, took notice, and accepted the last offer. WAMU is incompetent -- that's why they failed.

You must beat them with their own stick -- repeatedly.

Good luck.

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Chap 7 discharge 7/2008

[haggerty]

Do NOT pay anyone to get you a modification. If you are unsuccessful getting one on your own, call the Homeowner's HOPE hotline -- 1-888-995-HOPE. It is FREE and they are WONDERFUL at talking you through your options based on your situation, helping structure a loan mod that your lender will likely accept, and then they contact the lender with you to fast-track the loan mod approval process. Let me repeat -- this is FREE. They are miracle workers! They certainly helped me work one when my lender really screwed me over in an effort to steal the equity we have in our home.

[Toby629]

We got behind on our mortgage payments last fall (due to DH job loss.) 3 months behind, our lender was threatening foreclosure. They notified us that we qualified for the new mortgage relief program. We took the modification to keep our house. Our interest rate was modified from 5% to 3%, payment modified from $1,051 to $795 (includes taxes and insurance.) Plus they deferred our payments for 6 months. So we did not have to make a mortgage payment for 6 months, this month will be our first payment since modification. We also had a 2nd mortgage payment that was modified with a different lender, and that payment also got a lower interest rate, lower payment and deferred payment for 3 months. You should not pay anyone for a loan modification. We did not have to pay to have the loan modified in 1st or 2nd mortgage.

[ben1381]

I had no problem getting my load modified for 1 year by WAMU's loss mitigation department. I also had one of my fixed rate loans deferred for 3 months. I think you need to speak to the right people and be persistent.