If anyone understands just how difficult it is to obtain a loan modification, they will tell you that getting one is almost like winning the lottery. The odds are severely stacked against you and your chances getting one are close to nil. In fact, you are lucky to even apply for one.

I am fortunate enough to run an online community where I assist people with information about the loan modification process and foreclosure prevention. It’s a place where homeowners can come, share their stories and ask questions without being criticized. Many members have been fighting their lenders tooth and nail for 3 and 4 months. 

Sometimes it takes call after call and then your placed on hold for hours at a time, only to be disconnected and you have to start all over again. They tell you to fax in a hardship letter along with your financials, income and expense sheet, bank statements. You fax it, they lose it. You fax it again, they lose it again. You mail it in. Don’t matter because they lost it [Read more →]

With foreclosures on the rise in nearly every area of the country, the White House is under pressure from consumer advocates to do something to address the crisis. One of the latest solutions involves letting states issue tax-exempt bonds to help troubled homeowners refinance.
[Read more →]

First let me thank Moe for this site, it is great! Where do I begin?

In June of 05 we bought our second home. We did a 2/28 with a starting rate of 8.5. Not a great rate but it worked. Our payment was $2400 which quickly went up to $2650 because of taxes. All of this was fine but over the last year my husbands income has gone down. Same job just down in sales commissions. He is down apx $30,000 for the year. (15k last year) Knowing his income was down we tried to refi in October 06. It didn’t make sense at the time we had a $15000 prepay. Knowing the arm would reset in June we started the refi process again in May allowing plenty of time to get it done and close after the prepay penalty.

To get into a better loan we were advised to pay down our debt which we did. This took some time but the ficos went over 700 and now we could get out of our evil loan…Until….the bottom dropped out of the market and our house would no longer appraise with enough equity! [Read more →]

Story from the Nevada Appeal;

“Unfortunately, home foreclosures are on the rise in Nevada and that has given scam artists fertile ground for cheating those desperate to keep their homes,” said Masto. “If you are facing foreclosure, I encourage you to talk with your mortgage lender before accepting help from an outside party.”

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller are warning all Nevadans to beware of fraudulent foreclosure rescue schemes. Recent reports place Nevada first in the nation for its number of foreclosures. This has led to an increase in the number of foreclosure scams reported to law enforcement authorities.

We at IamFacingForeclosure.com agree with the attorney general, but the facts are that when people do reach out to their lender for help, that is far from what they receive. These third party companies are appealing to homeowners because in most cases they were unsuccessful in negotiating a loan workout with their lender. So, out of desperation, they look for another company to save their home as a last ditch effort. [Read more →]

Kelly Hansen

WELLS FARGO, dba,
AMERICAS SERVICING COMPANY

TURNING THE AMERICAN DREAM INTO A NATIONWIDE NIGHTMARE

My lovely home of seventeen years is up for a Sheriff’s sale on October 3, 2007. My home. I pray Disaster Relief is made available immediately for families in crisis. For a record number of home owners, the American dream is currently a nightmare.

Wells Fargo dba American Servicing Company (ASC) hopes to take my home. The balance on my loan is very small, less [Read more →]

HUD announces incentives for using reliable, government-backed mortgages to find a homeDETROIT - More Michigan families can obtain financial relief from their exotic subprime home loans, thanks to a new government-backed refinancing resource offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson highlighted the new FHASecure product and other reliable homebuying incentives at a HUD-sponsored foreclosure prevention workshop for homeowners who want to stay in their homes and prospective borrowers who want to make an educated choice when they buy.

“Homeownership has been an anchor of stability in uncertain times. And it will be once again. The steps we take today to educate and encourage potential homebuyers will help put that anchor back into place,” Jackson told the audience. [Read more →]

From Crain’s Detroit Business;

The state House on Tuesday passed a package of bills to offer new refinancing options to Michigan homeowners facing mortgage foreclosures.

Democrat-sponsored House Bills 5443-5447 establish programs to allow some homeowners who have adjustable-rate mortgages or who have missed mortgage payments to refinance and secure lower-interest, fixed-rate loans through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, or MSHDA. [Read more →]

Peter Miller wrote a great blog post about using reverse mortgages as a foreclosure prevention device. Many seniors may get much needed assistance in avoiding foreclosure with a reverse mortgage.

To make a reverse mortgage work as a foreclosure prevention device you generally need to be age 62 and above (there are some exceptions) and you need equity. For example, you may have a $600,000 home with no mortgage and an investment property with a $200,000 loan. The investment property isn’t working, the loan is toxic and getting worse, and one solution is to get a reverse mortgage on the prime residence and pay off the investment loan. Now the investment property — perhaps a condo in Miami or a house in Vegas — produces a positive cashflow even with a minimal rent.

For our borrower, it may make sense to get a reverse mortgage and, ultimately, to sell the investment property when and if the local market returns — and then pay off the reverse mortgage. [Read more →]

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is pushing for a 90 day ban on foreclosures and a 5 year “freeze” on adjsutable rate mortgages.  Clinton sent the following letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calling for needed steps to end the foreclosure crisis.

December 3, 2007

The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Secretary
United States Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am encouraged by news accounts that Treasury officials are negotiating an agreement with the mortgage industry to curb the foreclosure crisis. Reports of this agreement indicate that it will allow homeowners to apply to quickly refinance their mortgages or temporarily stop their adjustable rate mortgages from resetting at higher levels. [Read more →]

Submitted By Juan - in response to a post on LoanWorkout.org in regards to “the pending loan modification campaign” spearheaded by US Secretary Treasurer Henry Paulson.

If all these homes were on fire, with flames and smoke, reaching into the air, across the country, — you would see more of an immediate reaction to the immense disaster that is underway in the US economy.

A helicopter shot would show miles upon miles upon miles of burning homes across California, Colorado, Florida and other states with citizens screaming for help and assistance in the streets below as communities are destroyed. [Read more →]