Upside Down Mortgage

Archive for March, 2008

Loss Mitigation Law Firm

The process of negotiating a workout for a mortgage you can no longer afford can be frightful. Plenty of friends and relatives are great at giving bad advice. So why is this all so stressful? Lots of reasons: it's a slow process, requiring extensive documentation, which you may be asked to submit repeatedly, to more than one place, and, during much of the process, aggressive collection attempts are still be made by other parts of the mortgage companies. Some things that will help you manage the stress are keeping these expectations, or expect the expected.

1. Even though you may be knee deep in the paperwork process of a loan modification or short sale brace yourself for your mortgage company to NOT let up on collection activity. Why? Because mortgage companies are usually huge organizations, spread across many locations, and don't expect one department communicates with another. Often, until a negotiator is assigned to your request for loan modification or short sale, mortgage collection activities may continue, often daily. Remember the people placing these calls are trained to make you feel bad. See the documentary Maxed Out and you may come to understand that it is not personal, it's not about you.

2. When collection calls come in, remember you everything you said is being recorded and, as they are required by federal law to inform you, any information you give can be used by them to attempt to collect a debt. So less is more. State to them polite, but firm voice that you are in a loan modification with loss mitigation department, date you started, remember to stay polite, but firm?," or say to you ("This may be reported to a credit bureau,"), remain polite, but firm. "That information is in my loan modification/loss mitigation application."." Or, "thank you for your time.This alerts them that your making them aware you are in loss mitigation process. Remember they are most likely following scripts, and your loss mitigation updates are not on their scripts, so they will be stressed, and may even hang up on you. They will not be polite or friendly. It's not their job. Their job is to say whatever they think will bring money to bring your loan back up-to-date, or bring your loan "current" as they like to term it.

3. When your loss mitigation specialist calls understand they are swamped with other homeowners such as yourself and are just trying to process their workload as quick as possible. One real estate agent was told an office that used to get 20 applications a month, now gets 3500. That's a jolt for any company. So don't say anything that might land you at the bottom of the every heaping stacks of paper. Remember to always remain calm and polite with loss mitigations staff, no matter how many times they ask you to resubmit paperwork, even if you have a receipt that your documents arrived at their mortgage company weeks and weeks ago, even if you have the name of the company employee that signed for it. You may go ahead and let them know you did submit it but are delighted to provide another copy. If you financed the entire mortgage and have 2 loans, be prepared to ride the document merry-go-round. Most will ask you to use telefax as it is secure, email is not. Remember, if you get a name of a person, direct number hold on to that information because it's worth it's weight in gold. Get an actual email address and you'll probably hear game show style bells and buzzers going off in celebration.

About the Author:

Jenny Martin is an experienced writer who regularly contributes to www.stopbanksforeclosuretip.com/free_report Blog, a site designed to empower homeowners facing loss mitigation and shows them how both they and the bank can win.

Source - The Document Merry-go-round of Loss Mitigation When Preventing Foreclosure

In Liberty Law Firm she trusts

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Mortgage Help Obama

Question: If I request a loan modification to my mortgage under the Obama plan is it temporary?

I read that after 5 years the mortgage holder can raise the rate of the mortgage to the prevailing rate.

Answer: It is not unusual for lenders to have a "fixed" rate for no more than 5 years, then market forces dictate the new "variable" rate ongoing for the remainder of the loan (unless you can fix it again). While rates are low, take advantage of this 5 year period and pay off as much as you can - you will save thousands in interest and take years off your loan

Mortgage Help Tax Help Nationwide

Mortgage Modification Horror Stories

Seeing there are mortgage industry horror stories that can keep you from falling asleep. Are you sensitive to the implications of an ARM reset that has probably turned your beautiful house into a house of debt? What if your mortgage company went bankrupt while working your loan?

Do not panic. We have the data on the most critical mortgage issues, including shoring up that can be done now to keep your house recession secure.

When interest rates adjust based on your mortgage during the introductory period, the very first adjustment can be very high. The reason is not only the index will increase, which determines the interest rate, a adjustment upward to reflect current mortgage interest rates, and for the premier time of many, your mortgage company adds on its margin, an predetermined % point or 2 that is built in for the servicer.

At that point the index and the margin then continue to increase for the life of the loan.

If you signed an adjustable rate mortgage, your interest rate will reset by definition on one or more of the change dates, and the biggest rate hike happens at the end of an introductory period which happens anywhere between one month and ten years after the signing of the mortgage note.

For example, a 3-1 ARM will adjust after the first 3 yrs of payments, a 5-1 ARM will reset after the first 5 yrs...

Typically an ARM will continue to reset, annually, after that first interest rate adjustment, the yearly increases, which is defined by the mortgage, aren't likely to hurt as much as the 1st reset. Your mortgage company should let you know you prior to the interest rate adjustment and send new payment coupons describing your new monthly mortgage payment.

The total amount of your interest rate adjustment is defined by your mortgage contract which is a factored by 3 components your index, your margin and your capped amount.

The margin is an additional % that your mortgage company charges for its service collect payments, escrows taxes and insurance, customer service...

When your adjustable rate change date, based on your mortgage arrives, the interest rate will adjust to the mortgage rate on the specified day, plus the extra margin percentage as detailed on your mortgage.

If you are facing foreclosure in the near future or have had one in the past contact us at WestopForeclosureUSA. We offer mortgage modification help or a refinance to stop foreclosure.

About the Author:

For more information on Loan Modification, or to receive information on a Foreclosure Loan, please visit our website.

Source - We Have an Adjustable Rate Loan Please Assist

Bank of America Horror Story