Struggling To Keep Your Home?
Mortgage Loan Modification Can Help
People's financial situations can change in a heartbeat. Hardships of all sorts can prevent you from making ends meet, and your mortgage may fall into arrears. Mortgage loan modification can help put you back on track!
Circumstances that may be resulting in unpaid bills and threats of foreclosure vary, and may include:
1. Medical hardship
2. Loss of or reduction in income
3. Family conflict or divorce
4. Death in the family
5. Unexpected expenses
Whatever the cause, you may be faced with the fear of foreclosure on your property, and the prospect of losing the home you worked so hard to acquire. All is not lost, however; the Obama Administration has made it possible for lenders to work with you to modify your home loan and put you back on the path to regular payments and eventually, full title to your home!
In the past, late and missed payments generally resulted in threats being made by the lender, very few options for getting back on track, and the ultimate default on the loan and foreclosure on the property by the lender. Homeowners had little recourse, since there was no federal regulation enabling lenders to work out alternatives with the homeowner.
Can I Really Qualify for this Relief?
It is now possible for you to seek relief from overwhelmingly large mortgage payments even if:
1. You have bad or no credit
2. You are not even behind yet on your payments
3. You have just started falling behind
4. You have received a Notice of Default from the lender
5. You have been informed of a date of Trustee Sale of your property
6. You own more than one property
You can even obtain a mortgage loan modification and stop foreclosure even if you owe more than your home is currently valued at! The first step in obtaining am modification is hiring an attorney to protect your interests.
Do I Really Need a Lawyer?
You may think initially that a lawyer is just one more unnecessary expense. However, mortgage loan modification can be a complex process, and if you are not personally well versed in contract law you may find yourself the victim of unscrupulous loan modification 'experts', who will arrange your loan to benefit the lender instead of you and leave you in worse shape than before.
Anyone, including you can legally negotiate to modify a loan. However, a lawyer has knowledge of the system and how to protect your interests, and can keep you from being taken in by one of the many con men currently taking advantage of homeowners in distress.
These individuals bill themselves as
loan modification advisers, and will do anything to convince you that they should handle all negotiations with your lender in order to qualify you for a mortgage loan modification. In reality, it is not hard to qualify - the real hard part is making sure the loan agreement is written up in such a way that it actually relives you of some of your burden and protects you from problems in the years ahead. A loan modification should be a long term solution designed to enable you to ultimately pay off your home, not a short term device intended only to stave of foreclosure for a year or two.
Steps to Acquiring a Mortgage Loan Modification
Lenders will want to know exactly what has transpired to cause you to need a
Mortgage modification. A hardship letter must be drafted to explain your situation and detail the reasons you need your existing loan agreement to be modified.
A budget worksheet must be filled out listing all your expenses and sources of income, to show the lender that you will be able to hold up your end of the new agreement and make payments as scheduled.
The following documents will need to be collected and presented along with the hardship letter and budget worksheet to your lender:
1. Proof of income, including the two most recent pay-stubs for each borrower plus their W2's
2. The last two years' worth of tax returns, including schedules for self employment or rental income
3. Bank statements for the past two months (all pages must be included)
4. All correspondence concerning the current mortgage, including payment coupons, tax and insurance information and HOA fees
A
qualified loan modification attorney will be able to help you locate and present all documents to your lender, and will be a part of the process from beginning to end, making sure your interests are safeguarded and that the final mortgage agreement is one you can abide by. This give you the security of knowing that you will be able to eventually finish paying off your loan and achieve your dream of owning your own home!
