Posted on: Friday, September 18, 2009

Persistence Pays Off

By Paul M. J. Suchecki
Tags: foreclosure prevention, Loan Modification, ...
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The foreclosure rate is like the unemployment number. It is still increasing but more slowly. In fact in some areas, like those characterized as boom towns that experienced rapid growth and a swift decline, the number of new foreclosures has actually fallen.

Last week, the Obama Administration released its mortgage servicer report through August 2009 on the Home Affordable Modification Program, HAMP. It is just one of many potential mortgage help solutions, but serves as a bellwether about where the industry is going as a whole. There are grounds for optimism. In a single month, the cumulative number of trial loan modifications has increased by a full third, from 235,247 in July to 360,165 in August. Still those mods don’t come close to covering all who are eligible.

If your can’t continue to pay your mortgage, ask for help. In the state with the most mortgage defaults, California, the unemployment rate is now at 12.2% the highest rate since WW II.  Despite the recent good news in the economy, remember that job growth is a lagging indicator. Most employers won’t hire new people until the capacity of current workers is stretched. If only one spouse is working, it will probably stay that way for a while. If you’re only getting part time work, don’t bank on more any time soon. If you are unemployed, you probably won’t get a loan modification, but could most likely  get a forbearance.

If you are facing trouble making your mortgage payments, don’t wait until your savings are exhausted and you’ve started to fall behind on your payments, Get proactive. Seek help from your servicer today. None of us wants to appear inadequate especially when it comes to being able to provide for our basic needs such as food, clothing, medical care, and shelter. This is the time to put embarrassment aside. All of us have been affected by the Great Recession. If the greatest minds in the country at Harvard and Yale saw their endowments drop by a stunning $18 billion dollars, more than the entire annual Gross Domestic Product of Ghana, don’t feel bad about a decline in your own net worth.

Here’s how to proceed:

• Assemble your paperwork.
• Outline your hardship.
• Look up the toll free number on your mortgage bill. Pick up the phone. call and ask for your mortgage servicer’s loss mitigation department.
• Keep notes on whom you contact, when and what you discuss.
• Fax or send in copies of your paperwork.
• Stay on top of your request for a loan modification by asking for firm dates as to when you’ll get results. Follow up if you don’t hear back
• Be persistent. Expect that nothing will happen without multiple phone calls and protracted follow up on your part. Be prepared for a long grind, but know that it will probably produce a favorable outcome.
• Remember, it’s ultimately cost effective for lenders to modify their home loans.

The counselors who answer the phone are attuned to your needs. The major reason they are not moving as quickly as you’d want is that they are overwhelmed.  True, their mission is to collect a debt, but you’re not reaching a collection agency or dealing with a hard core repo man. In all likelihood you’ll be working with mortgage professionals who will do their utmost to help you keep your home.

Here’s a video that takes look at what the process is like from the servicer’s perspective, real counselors at one of the premiere loan modification firms in the country, Mortgage Outreach Services, MOS.   reverse aging