Video Summary
What do I need to know about loan modifications? Well, you probably need to know a lot. But the biggest thing you need to do is be very, very patient and very, very persistent because they are very, very hard to get. So whenever you get the information from your lender—sometimes they mail it to you to say you can do this to avoid foreclosure, or you can go on their website and have the home retention department or a collector call—get in touch with them and ask them to send you what documents you need to send them in order to try and get a mortgage modification. Whenever you complete the information and try to complete it as full as you can, completely as you can, it’s a real pain in the neck, but once you get it all completed and then you fax it to the lender, be sure you put your loan number on the bottom of every page that you fax to them because I haven’t ever been there, but rumor has it they have a common fax machine and they’ll forever tell you they didn’t get all the documentation.
So after you fax all your paperwork, count four days, and after four days, call them and say did you get everything or is there something that is missing. Be proactive. It takes time and persistence. Now, once you’ve done that, you need to calendar out in about a month. After about a month, you then need to send in new bank statements and paystubs, if you have them. And you fax them to the same number. Be sure you put your loan number on there, updated paystubs, updated bank statements.
Count four days, call them, ask them, “Did you receive everything? Is there anything else you need?” So be proactive. Continue to do this. Probably – hopefully after about six months—they will hopefully have someone actually look at your paperwork and you may have a shot of getting your mortgage modified. But you have to be persistent.
Now, don’t get your expectations up a whole lot about getting a principal reduction on your mortgage. You can ask for it. However, a lot depends on who owns your mortgage, whether it is owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or whether it’s owned by an investor, which is a trust. And it’s been my experience that the only time you get a principal reduction is whenever your loan is owned by an investor. Now, how they pick out who gets the principal reductions, I haven’t figured that out. But you’re not gonna get it necessarily.
Your chances are increased I would think if you go ahead and apply for a mortgage modification. So whenever you go about trying to get it, go ahead and start applying and keep applying, and if they turn you down, well, just turn around and apply again and pretty soon, you’ll be a master at sending the paperwork in and continue to be persistent. And then once you get your modification, well, give us a call. We’ll be glad to review it with you and then we can tell you whether it’s acceptable to you or not – acceptable to you or not acceptable, and then if they wind up filing a foreclosure action while you’re in the middle of this modification program, you have another bite at the apple, which you may be successful with is whenever a foreclosure action’s filed, to then also modify your mortgage.
Now, if you’re current with your mortgage and you want a modification, there are several programs out there for people who are current to be able to modify their mortgage to a lower interest rate, even if the value of your property is below what you owe on it, you still may be qualified and you need to contact your lender about those programs. And you have to have made all your payments for the past 12 months and be current. So if you have any questions about mortgage modifications, give me a call at (727) 847-2288. Thank you.