Lindsy B. Emery asked:




Homeowners are facing very difficult circumstances in these tough economic times. Property values have dropped and people are experiencing financial setbacks in their own lives. What has not changed is their monthly mortgage payments. Naturally homeowners are finding it hard to keep making these payments. Fortunately mortgage loan modifications can help.

Losing your home is not an inevitable conclusion if you are having trouble making your monthly mortgage payment. Consult with a HUD financial counselor that you can find through a non-profit group. They will give you advice about what your options are. You need to know what your options are for refinancing even if you think you are not qualified. The requirements for refinancing have been lowered thanks to programs like FHA HOPE for Homeowners or President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Plan.

If you cannot refinance your loan, there are other things you can do if your mortgage loan is not in line with your finances anymore. The Making Home Affordable plan has designated $75 billion in incentives to help up to 5 million people get a loan modification so their will not lose their homes to foreclosure. Getting your lender to modify your loan so your monthly payment is in line with your income is an affordable and realistic option.

If you are interested in loan modifications you need to consult a financial consultant who will help you get the modification you need. HUD will direct you to a financial consultant who will not charge you for his/her services. They are in great demand today so it might be difficult to get a meeting with one right now. There are also for for-profit companies that will assist you as well. Both those you pay and those who work for free have their own good and bad points.

If you decide to work with a professional company to secure your modification, read the contract carefully and insist that all fees and charges be fully explained. Ask about a 100% money back guarantee if the modification application is rejected. Check with the Better Business Bureau before you agree to work with any company to make sure they are reputable and legitimate.

To prevent becoming a victim of a fraudulent loan modification company, don’t work with a company that does not guarantee acceptance or you get all your money back, a company that does not have a real office (as opposed to an online site alone) or charges fees upfront without a complete explanation. A company that contacts you through email or one that comes knocking at your door is one that needs to be investigated.

There are many options to foreclosure for you today. Get mortgage loan modification advice from a financial counselor and keep your home.

Brian

Michael Petrone asked:




A large number of homeowners have been financially hurt by the housing market meltdown, and the mortgage crisis. Of those homeowners, a large number of them are in financial trouble through no real fault of their own. Jobs have been lost, incomes reduced, and a lot of people got into bad mortgages, which became worse as the market went down. However, a home loan modification may be able to save homeowners a lot of money, and possibly their home. Here is how it works:

Homeowners who are delinquent in their payments, or are in danger of losing their home through a foreclosure or mortgage default, can modify their mortgage and get a lower, more affordable, monthly home loan payment. After your applications has been approved, you can start negotiating individual terms and conditions of the potential refinancing or modification loan deal in order to get yourself a more affordable monthly mortgage payment.

First, you will need to speak with a loan refinancing or modification specialist, and ask them for the applications you need. Also, you must handwritten a letter of “Financial Hardship” this letter should include the reasons you have trouble making your monthly home loan payments. This will need to be included with your refinancing or modification application, along with copies of your tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, bills, and other financial related paperwork.

While it is possible to get a “Do it Yourself” home loan modification, it is not usually advised. For a proper and rewarding home loan modification, use the help of financial professionals. There are a lot of companies which are willing to help you get the right deal on your refinance or mortgage modification, use the internet to easily find them. There are also non profit organizations which you can contact through your local HUD office.

Be sure to be careful when choosing a mortgage lender or bank to assist you with your home loan refinancing or modification. There are always scam artists, who prey on homeowners fears and vulnerabilities. Check a lenders better business bureau record and check for problems with past customers. This is the best way to ensure you get the best refinancing or loan modification deal possible.

Lynn

William Bud Gragg Jr asked:




Normally the kind of mortgage advice we give is for people who may need to get out of their mortgages. But what if you’re looking to dive into the housing market? What kind of mortgage advice do you need?

Well, it certainly is a buyer’s market out there with over a million foreclosed houses alone available for sale! If you’re moving to take a new job or just like the idea of owning the place where you live, this might seem like a great time to invest in a mortgage and in a roof over your head.

With that in mind, as Realtors we do have some solid mortgage advice for you.

First, don’t think of any house you buy as an investment. Yes, you may get lucky, and property values might rise enough for you to get some money out of the house after your mortgage is paid off, or even before. But if you look at your house as an investment bank that’s going to constantly pay off for you-well, those days are long gone.

It’s much more likely that the property you’re looking at will fall in value before it ever rises again.

The next thing you need to know about mortgages is that there is one kind of mortgage that you should never, ever get-even if you have to walk away from the sale. That mortgage is called an adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM.

With ARMs you get a nice, low monthly payment for the first 1-7 years, depending on the terms you get. After those 1-7 years, though, the mortgage resets to reflect inflation. And it keeps resetting every year after that. Sure, if inflation goes down, you’ll see a decrease in your mortgage payment. But don’t count on that happening!

When you’re applying for mortgages, the mortgage lenders are going to be looking at something called a loan to value (LTV) ratio. That’s the ratio of the amount of the mortgage to the actual value of the house. For example, if you take out a $130,000 loan on a $150,000 house, you’ll have an LTV of 87%-you’ll owe 87% of the house’s current value on your mortgage.

Mortgage lenders are only likely to write you a mortgage if your LTV is 80% or less-especially these days!

We know that there are some incredible-looking deals out there. Property values have dropped so low in some places that you might be able to buy at least a condo outright! But before you decide to make a mortgage commitment of any size, we want you to ask yourself these questions:

· How is this area economically? Is the economic base diverse enough that you aren’t going to be as likely to have to move and then be stuck in a mortgage you don’t want to pay anymore?

· Property values are likely to drop even more before things get better. And it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a real estate bubble like we did during the past decade and a half. In that case, would your money be best spent on a mortgage or on your financial future?

Finally, be sure to get someone beside a mortgage lender-or anyone else who has a stake in your financial decisions-to give you personalized mortgage advice based on your family’s specific situation. You’re going to want to learn as much as you can online, of course, but there’s no substitute for a qualified person who can tell you how the ins and outs of mortgages can affect you personally.

Jesse

Frank W Ellis asked:




Refinancing is nothing more than replacing your existing mortgage loan with a new loan. If interest rates have dropped since you last financed your home, refinancing at a lower rate (even 1 percent) can save you a lot of money.

You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out whether a refinance would save you money. You’ll need to know your total closing costs and your new monthly payment to make an estimate. Let’s assume that your mortgage payment is $1250 and you find a lender that will cut your loan payment by $200 a month. That’s $2400 a year!

But wait… The new loan comes with a price. It’s not unusual for a refinance loan’s closing costs to be in the $4000 neighborhood. That’s a lot of money. But, the next question is. How many months will it take me to recover my costs of getting the new loan? At a monthly payment savings of $200 a month it would take 20 months to get back to a break-even point in this case.

After the break-even point it all depends on how long you stay in your home. If you were to stay in your home for 60 months or (5) years after the break-even point, you would save $12.000. Not a bad deal!

Refinancing a mortgage isn’t cheap and it’s not always easy, but when you consider the possible savings, it could be worth your time and effort. Mortgage interest rates rise and fall all the time. A drop of just 1 percent in mortgage interest rates can be enough to make refinancing worthwhile for you.

Herbert

Jordan Fylonenko asked:




Divorce sucks. Celebrity divorces – well, they suck even more. The multi-million dollar mansion in West Hollywood, the villa in the south of France, and the twelve cars parked in the driveway are all up for grabs when a celebrity couple calls it quits.

It’s no secret that divorces get nasty, especially when there are millions at stake (no pre-nup?). Who gets the house(s)? How much is child support?

Dealing with mortgages in West Hollywood is nothing to scoff at. When millions are on the table and tensions are high, how do these stars get out of their home loans and move on with their glamorous lives?

Move On and Sell Your Home

One of the best ways to get out of the mortgage is to sell the house. The money earned from the sold home can be used to pay off the existing mortgage. The rest of the funds can be split about between spouses. Selling the house gives you freedom from making monthly mortgage payments, taking care of the house, or paying taxes and insurance.

One thing to remember is that the home being sold often has a sufficiently reduced mortgage payment which makes finding a mortgage with the same affordable monthly payment unlikely.

Kick ‘Em Out and Refinance

The second and most common option in dealing with a mortgage is when one spouse keeps the home and then refinances. Usually the spouse that is leaving will give up his or her claim on the house. The secured debt is refinanced into one spouse’s name in an amount sufficient to satisfy the old joint debt and to provide a cash buy-out for any equity the other spouse may have in the asset. Generally, this is the good way to satisfy debt and credit issues as part of a divorce.

It’s vital to remove the name of the spouse who is leaving from the mortgage. Forgetting to do this will keep divorced couples closely tied to each other. When one person fails to make payments on the mortgage, both parties’ finances and credit ratings will fall. Until the refinance is final and the deed on the home has been legally changed, both spouses are still responsible for payments on the house.

Whether you’re a star or just act like one, divorce can hit hard. Make sure to be prepared and know your options. Hiring a good divorce lawyer won’t hurt either.

Brenda

Lindsay Kizzia asked:




Are you one of the many stressed homeowners facing foreclosure? Are you having trouble meeting your credit obligations? Are you under constant financial stress? If any of these situations should like your current life then you may feel like there is no way out and no solution. Rather than waiting until it is too late to overcome your financial situation and lose your home take a moment to consider how loan modifications can help you.

People have heard about Obama and the loan restructuring program that is supposed to help prevent foreclosures, but many aren’t aware what it is exactly. The program is a modification that can alter the original terms of your mortgage in order to make repayment easier for you. This includes helping lower your monthly payments, interest rates, deferment of payments or other modifications that can help you avoid foreclosure of your home.

Many aren’t aware that the loan modification program can also help lenders. Foreclosure proceedings cost lenders many resources including time and money. Since the foreclosure process is so expensive, many lenders want to prevent this from happening. Although in the past, this wasn’t possible for lenders due to a lack of liquidity as well as no federal policy.

Now that you know what a loan modification is, you likely want to know whether you can qualify for a modification. Even if you have a reduction in income or have lost your job, you can still take advantage of the program. If some circumstance in your life has dramatically affected your financial situation such as medical bills, disability, military service or death then a loan modification program is good for you. If you are faced with high debt payments from credit cards, home equity loans or other high debts then a loan modification program can help reduce one of your high bills. Loan modifications can also help if your expenses have recently increased such has higher mortgage payment, utility bills or higher taxes. Lastly, a such a program can help you if your cash reserves aren’t enough to cover all your expenses as well as your monthly mortgage payment.

Many changes can occur in your life. No one plans to have trouble meeting their bills, but it can happen even if you have the best of intentions. If you face even a slight financial or personal hardship then you can have a severe disability to meet your monthly bills. The lowering of the current housing market also makes it harder to build up equity in your home. This coupled with higher interest rates also make it difficult to meet your monthly mortgage payments.

If this is the case for you or if you are already receiving default notices from your lender then you definitely want to look into a loan modification program. The process isn’t that difficult and can make your life a lot easier.

Laurie

Karen P asked:


Hello! I am a single mother of 2 children. I currently am paying $1200 in rent and I can not afford it. It kills me to be paying so much when I’m not even going to own the house. My credit score is really low about 515. Are there any first time buyer loans that don’t look at your credit score? Also fix your mortgage payment according to your income. I need some credit counseling also at no cost and can not find any around my area. (Atlantic County, New Jersey) My student loans are in default. I honestly do not know what to do. If you have any advice please let me know. No bashers please I already know that the decisions that I made in the past now affected me I wish I would have known it then. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my problems. – Karen

Dawn

Louie Latour asked:




Many homeowners fall on hard times with their finances at one time or another. Loss of a job, divorce, illness, or the death of a family member can quickly put your budget under water. Fortunately, you have a number of options to reduce or even defer your mortgage payments. Here are several suggestions that could help manage an unwieldy mortgage payment until you are back on your feet.

I. Contact Your Mortgage Lender

Believe it or not, contacting the mortgage lender before you are behind and explaining the situation could be the answer to your financial problems. Mortgage lenders will generally work with you as long as you contact them before you’re in serious trouble. The mortgage lender may work out reduced or even deferred payments for several months simply by asking. It is usually in the best interest of the mortgage lender to keep your home out of foreclosure. Remember, you will find the lender much more accommodating if you ask before you’ve dug yourself into a deep hole.

II. Mortgage Refinancing Could Lower Your Payments

If the mortgage lender is unwilling to help you with reduced or deferred payments, consider mortgage refinancing. There are a number of loans that can significantly reduce your payment amount for a number of years. Interest only and hybrid loans are two options to consider depending on your tolerance for financial risk. Interest only mortgages allow the lowest payment amount because you are not paying any of the loan principle during the interest only period; this interest only period often lasts as long as five years.

If you have less tolerance for risk, consider a hybrid mortgage. Hybrid loans are a blend of fixed and adjustable rates that will give you a low payment like an interest only mortgage, without the same level of risk. Extending the term length of the loan type you choose will further reduce your payment amount. Traditional mortgages come with thirty year term lengths; however, there are now forty and even fifty year mortgage loans. By choosing an interest only or hybrid mortgage with the longest term length, your payment will be significantly reduced. This new, significantly lower payment amount will allow you to take back control of your budget.

III. Shop Around for the Best Mortgage Loan

Once you have decided mortgage refinancing is right for you it is important to shop around for the best lender. Homeowners often make the mistake of assuming the mortgage with the lowest interest rate is best; these homeowners neglect to factor in lender fees and closing costs, often overpaying thousands of dollars for the new loan. You can learn more about mortgage refinancing while avoiding costly mistakes by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.

Eva

Louie Latour asked:




If you are shopping for a mortgage loan you have probably seen the acronym PITI in many of the loan offers you receive. PITI stands for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Here is what you need to know about PITI.

Principal

Mortgage principal is the total balance of your loan. When you make your monthly mortgage payments you are gradually paying down this balance along with the interest due for that month. Mortgage loans are front loaded with interest so in the early years of your mortgage you will find very little of your mortgage payment is being applied to the principal loan balance. The interest paid on any given month is based on the outstanding principal balance; as the years go by more of your payment is applied to the principal balance and less is paid to the lender as interest.

Interest

Interest is what you pay the lender for loaning you the money to pay for your home. The interest is a percentage of the principal balance due. Interest rates come in two flavors: fixed rates that do not change over the term of the loan, and adjustable interest rates that change at regular intervals set in your loan contract. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage your interest rate is tied to some financial index plus the lender’s markup. When the lender periodically updates your interest rate the amount of your monthly mortgage payment will change with it.

Taxes

Property taxes are often included in your monthly payment amount. Lenders do this to protect their investment in your home; if you allow your property taxes to lapse, your State or local government could put a lien on your home. If this happens the lender would be unable to foreclose if you fall behind on your payments.

Insurance

Your homeowner’s insurance policy protects your home from damages. Insurance premiums can be rolled into your monthly payment like property taxes; again, lenders do this to protect their interest in your property. Most homeowner’s insurance policies only protect your home against fire, vandalism, and certain other damages. If you live in an area prone to flooding the mortgage lender could require you to purchase flood insurance in addition to your homeowner’s policy. Mortgage lenders may require borrowers with poor credit or low down payments to purchase Private Mortgage Insurance in addition to their homeowner’s policy. Private Mortgage Insurance protects the lender from loses in the event of foreclosure. This insurance does nothing to protect you, the homeowner.

To learn more about shopping for the right mortgage and avoiding common mistakes, register for a free mortgage guidebook using the links below.

Ryan

Mark Aucamp asked:




The latest forecast by the British Chamber of Commerce suggests that unemployment figures could rise to ten percent or around 3.1 million people during this year 2009. According to Credit Action personal debt in Britain today stands at almost

Susan V. Gregory asked:




Confused about whether you can qualify for a Wells Fargo loan modification to lower your mortgage payment?

katya asked:


I have a good credit rating, and I need to refinance in early 2010 (because my mortgage payment is too high..I ‘d set it for 15 years instead of 30).
I am preparing: In order to clear my credit profile, I am paying off a large amount business debt on credit cards with a personal family loan .
2 questions:. How likely is a bank ( in 6 months time) to ask me how I did that?
2nd: I’ll be paying $ 1250 a month… I ‘m wondering will they see this in my checking account and suspect it is a loan? should I be making monthly payments to my family member with money orders so it doesn’t show
I am 1000% honest and just want to package myself right because if I don’t get this mortgage payment down, I could be headed for trouble.
I was told I do not qualify for mortgage modification because” I’m not in trouble” Seems only if you are in default, they’ll help !.

Lucille

manwai L asked:


I had a mortgage loan with AmTrust Bank, I sent in a request to have them credit my mortgage payment from my bank account automatically on every 1st of the month. But the thing is, I wasn’t aware that the auto-pay was set up and I set a a check for November 1 (which was sent on October 20th.) And as I mentioned before, I wasn’t aware that the auto-pay was set up, so Amtrust credited another $1200 from my bank account. and now I have made 2 payments for November, but still due December 1 because the mortgage is holding my $ in the suspense accout and would not apply it to the monthly payment. Can anyone advise me what to do? Can I possibly get that extra payment back or what I can do to make them apply that fund to my monthly payment and have the due date bought to Jan. 1, 09 ? please, can someone give me an answer?

Ted

Mariza V asked:


I owe 2 houses one under my name, in the rental property I am 1 payment behind in the first deed and 5 payments behind on the second deed. I can’t make the payments no more, I am in home loans, and my paycheck has been reduce soo much. I want to keep only my owner occupied property and let go the rental. Balance is $410,K and $220K on second. I been thinking on calling the lenders to give them the house back, some other friends tell me to do a shortsale, and other to file bankruptcy or forclose the property. at this point all I want is not to have $5,500 mortgage payment a month. I can’t refinance because there is no equity, and my credit has been ruined due to the late payments, I don’t want to go to a credit consultant because my intentions are not to keep the house. I need some advise before I go to an attorney .

Jorge

Loan Modification Help Center asked:


Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz was recently joined by California Attorney General Jerry Brown to announce the initiation of “Operation Loan Lies”, a coordinated national law enforcement effort to crack down on mortgage loan modification scams.

The operation has already filed 189 actions by 25 federal and state agencies against fraudulent loan shops that used deceptive marketing to push their shabby or non-existent foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification services. The actions involve homeowners across the country but were announced in Southern California, where the fraudulent companies were based. “These con artists see the high foreclosure rates as an opportunity to prey on people in distress,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. “They promise to rescue homeowners in troubled financial waters, but after they take their money they throw them an anchor instead of a lifeline.”

In conjunction with the announcement the FTC gave details on four additional lawsuits which brings the total of mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification scam cases the Commission has brought since April to fourteen. In the four new lawsuits, defendants are charged with:

Making false claims that they would obtain a home loan modification Making claims that, in conjunction with the loan modification, they would stop foreclosure proceedings Failing to honor promises of refunds to homeowners if the proposed action was not successful

The defendants are charged with doing little or nothing to advance the loan modification process for their clients after receiving fees approximately equal to one month’s mortgage payment.

The specific charges against defendants are as follows:

U.S. Foreclosure Relief made false claims of fast turnarounds for approvals and years of experience with fictitious success rates for their loan modifications. Homeowners received neither. They are also charged with violating the FTC’s Do Not Call Rule due to their repeated contacts with homeowners on the National Do Not Call Registry. Pending a court date, assets of U.S. Foreclosure Relief were frozen. Lucas Law Center made false representations about their capability to obtain loan modifications. They also told homeowners to divert their mortgage payments toward paying Lucas’ fees, a violation of the law. The company did provide refunds to some of their clients but only after repeated complaints and requests for help from the Better Business Bureau, the California Attorney General, the State Bar of California, and/or local authorities. The court froze Lucas Law Center’s assets ahead of a court hearing Loss Mitigation Services assured homeowners that their loan modifications were virtually assured because they were a department of, or affiliated with, the consumer’s lender or mortgage servicer, a complete fabrication. Some homeowners lost their homes while waiting for modifications which would never happens. ·         Apply2Save made claims that they could get loan modifications done in thirty to ninety days when, in fact, they never made contact with the homeowners’ lenders. To stall for time, Apply2Save told their customers that paperwork was lost, often more than once.

Operation Loan Lies follows an April 6, 2009, announcement by FTC Chairman Leibowitz, Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan that there would be a crack-down on companies that were set up to defraud homeowners seeking home loan modifications.

The four companies provide valuable lessons in how homeowners can protect themselves from hiring a deceptive company that will not deliver on promises. In the case of U.S. Foreclosure Relief, one warning sign would any talk or intimation of affiliation with the U.S. government. U.S. Foreclosure Relief and Apply2Save both pitched themselves as being able to get approvals for home loan modifications faster than any of their competitors. Homeowners should be aware that the process of modification is two sided and that lenders are currently flooded with applications. Any promises of fast turnarounds should be met with great skepticism. Lucas Law Center advised customers to pay them instead of their lender, an obvious warning about their regard for legal and ethical standards. Finally, Loss Mitigation Services’ claims of affiliation with lenders and guarantees of loan modification approvals because of it were definite red flags. Finding the truth would have been as easy as making a direct call to the lender to verify the claims.



Avoiding the problems encountered by homeowners that were scammed by these firms is as simple as asking the right questions, doing some leg work, and realizing that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Insist on working with a firm that has already done hundreds of loan modifications and can prove it. Visit the office and ask questions until you’re comfortable. A loan modification is a huge and important undertaking. Ensuring its chances of success by doing your homework will keep you out of trouble and give you a much better chance at staying in your home.



Holly

Hutch777 asked:


My loan didn’t orginally include the property tax which was not disclosed to me. I was late on the property tax and my bank (IndyMac) now includes this into my mortgage which is now 3,300 from 2,400: which I can’t afford. Do I forclose? Not pay until evicted? Or keep trying to pay (I’m not late…yet) Indymac isn’t apart of the Making homes affordable program yet and who knows when. OR become deliquent then will qualify for a loan modification (must be 60days past due).
I live in California pay $5,000 in property tax. My monthly mortgage payment is $3,300 and I make a monthly income of $4,500 support three people and am a single mother.
I have been in contact with Indymac bank. I don’t have equity in the house, don’t qualify for a loan modification since I’m current on my payments and they have yet to participate in the ‘making homes affordable program”.

Norma