Upside Down Mortgage

Archive for July, 2008

Loan Modification Denial

Many homeowners who are facing financial hardship due to job loss, illness, or mortgage interest rate adjustment have picked up their phone and called their mortgage lender to try and get a loan modification. If you have a lender who is prepared and motivated to work with borrowers in your situation, this initial call can go very well and result in the mortgage lender sending you the details of their mortgage modification programs. In this case, after you've completed and returned their paperwork -- and provided you're accepted -- you'll receive an offer from someone in their mortgage modification or loss mitigation department. At that point, it's just a matter of negotiating with the lender to get the best possible terms, and your modification will be complete.

Unfortunately, many loan modifications don't go as smoothly as the best case scenario described above. Often, homeowners hit roadblocks almost immediately upon calling their lender's toll-free phone number: finding the right person to speak with can be a real challenge, since customer service is seldom helpful in these cases. Once you find the right department, you may be told that your lender doesn't have any programs to help homeowners in your area or circumstances, or that you don't qualify for one of a thousand arbitrary reasons.

Assuming you do manage to find the right department and convince them to send you their modification paperwork, anxious weeks will likely pass between your returning the paperwork and your receipt of a form letter response from your lender. Ideally, your lender will have reviewed your paperwork and will offer you a modification. However, you may be in the same boat as thousands of other borrowers who have been denied a modification with nearly no information provided regarding the reasoning or rationale for the denial, and no way for you to appeal. Your subsequent calls back to the lender will start the process anew, only this time you'll be much more frustrated and will have wasted much valuable time. Simply put, you've hit a modification roadblock.

When faced with this situation, there are 5 tactics which can help you break through your roadblock and get the modification you need:

1) Polite persistence is key. Once you find the right department, write down the extension number or dial-by-number codes required to get directly to that department. Write down the names of everyone you speak to (and ideally get their direct phone numbers so you can call them back without going through the incoming call queue). Once you've found someone in the right department, keep calling once a week (or more) and check on the status of your filing, and inquire about any new programs which the lender is now offering: with the financial crisis deepening by the week, lenders are offering new programs for homeowners very frequently.

2) Don't take no for an answer. If you're getting shut down by customer service or the modification department, politely but firmly ask to speak to a supervisor. Customer service is notorious for telling you there's no one else to speak with, or asking you "what you'll tell the supervisor which is different." Don't get upset or flustered: simply reiterate that you need to speak with the person's supervisor. Eventually they'll transfer you.

3) Reach out -- and up -- for help. Many of us remember writing letters to Santa or the President in elementary school...well, it's time to dust off those skills! Using Google it's easy to find your State Representative, Senator, and local legislators. These politicians have entire departments which are devoted to helping constituents such as yourself get the help you need. It may take a number of phone calls but you might be pleasantly surprised at the results getting a politician on your side can bring. Consider sending them copies of everything you've sent to your lender to help make the case that you are serious and have really tried on your own.

4) Find the boss. If you are able to find out who your mortgage underwriter is (the party actually holding the mortgage note -- not just your mortgage servicer), contact them and ask for help. Often, your lender won't want to tell you who your underwriter is, so find the CEO or Vice President in charge or mortgages at your lender. Often times these executives will have a special customer service department ("Executive Customer Support" or some similar name) dedicated to helping people who have been unable to get satisfaction through the normal channels. Use Google to find lender's "secret customer service" number, email address, and mailing address, then appeal to them for help.

5) If all else fails, bring in the big guns. If you've tried your best to get help from your bank but haven't had success, or if you're tired of getting the run around, you should consider enlisting the help of a reputable loan modification company. Such companies may have attorneys on staff who can review your loan paperwork for errors by the lender, and they'll have professional negotiators who have the time and stamina to negotiate with the bank even if you've been denied before. Make sure you do your homework and research a company before making a final decision to work with any particular business.

However you proceed, the best way to guarantee a good result is to stay positive and be persistent!

About the Author:

Lauren McPherson has spent over 12 years in the real estate business helping homeowners and potential buyers get the best possible deal. If you need professional
loan" target="_blank">www.loanmodfriend.com/loan-mod/help.htm">loan
modification advice, consider visiting LoanModFriend: in addition to matching you with a
mortgage" target="_blank">www.loanmodfriend.com/loan-mod/expert.htm">mortgage
modification expert, you can find the latest loan mod news, tips, and articles.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Hit a Loan Modification Roadblock? 5 Ways to Break Through

If you're new around here, you might want to subscribe to our Upside-Down Mortgage RSS feed. It's quite likely the only feed of it's type on the internet!

Fair Value Accounting Subprime

Did you lose money in due to investing with Oppenheimer Funds?

The law firm of Weiss Imbesi PLLC has been approached by numerous investors regarding the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund  and Oppenheimer Champoion Income Fund. Claims have been filed on  behalf of investors that purchased both funds.

Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund

The OppenheimerFunds Core Bond Fund (OPIGX) in 2008, began to lose value (more than 40%.) Similar bond funds posted gains of as much as 4%. The performance of the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund has created unexpected financial losses for investors. The returns didn't match the representations made by Oppenheimer because the fund's managers bet big on toxic mortgage-backed securities.

Oppenheimer Champoion Income Fund

The Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund (OCHCX) invested heavily on subprime mortgage securities and risky credit-default swaps. The fund has fallen by more than 80% in value, making it the worst-performing taxable high-yield bond fund of 2008. Similar bonds were down 30%.

The Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund also sold credit-default swaps on such firms as Lehman Brothers Holdings, American International Group (AIG) and General Motors Corp (GM). In 2008, all three firms either went bankrupt or sought financial protection from the federal government.

If you have purchased any of these funds, please call attorney Vincent J. Imbesi at (212) 736-5599.

Vincent J. Imbesi, has recovered millions of dollars for investors in FINRA arbitration. Mr. Imbesi has represented investors against some of the world's largest brokerage firms, including: Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia.

Routinely, investors place their trust (and life savings) with their financial advisors, only to see their money disappear due to bad advice or fraudulent actions. Financial advisor negligence and misconduct may involve the act of misleading an investor or purposefully providing incorrect advice in order to profit from a client's investment decision. Securities stock broker fraud can include excessively trading your account, false statements, misrepresentations, concealment of information, or intentional misuse of investor trust. When information is tainted, investors cannot fairly weigh the risks versus the opportunities, and are more likely to lose money.

Attorney Advertising

About the Author:

Vincent J. Imbesi, has recovered millions of dollars for investors in FINRA arbitration. Mr. Imbesi has represented investors against some of the world's largest brokerage firms, including: Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia.

Mr. Imbesi's e-mail is [email protected]

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Stock Fraud Lawyers Bringing More Claims Against Oppenheimer

Fairvalue #174 Fair Value Accounting Standards

Chase Loan Modification How Long

A Home Loan Modification is an offer to make a permanent change in the borrowers mortgage terms which is normally involves a rate modification. To find out if you qualify or how to get help on a mortgage loan modification there are plenty of attorneys and loan modification companies to help consumers.

To determine if you are eligible the legal representative will request certain documentation and ask you income and expense questions. One will need to be in a hardship situation such as job loss, dramatic reduction in income, divorce, death, etc. many individuals opt to try and do the loan modification themselves without the assistance of an attorney who knows the laws, knows how to stop a foreclosure, knows what errors to look for in the closing documents, and what is needed to qualify.

There are other companies out there who claim they can do a loan modification and then actually can’t help the homeowner and find themselves even more underwater since they had to pay that particular company a processing fee. A loan modification, also called debt restructuring, with an attorney can significantly make headway for clients at a faster rate and faster responses. I have personally witnessed people trying to save a buck here and there and do it themselves. Yet, they discover six months later they are still no closer to a modification agreement and are still chasing down different office staff in the lenders office.

Some homeowners that are struggling to make their mortgage payments or close to foreclosure may choose to employ a real estate attorney or a loan modification company rather than doing it ion their own due to the fact that an attorney has a significantly more positive impact and results, when ordinary individuals have failed. The lender has to respond to attorney in a timely fashion otherwise there are penalties, possible loan rescission, and expensive legal fees. They don’t want this in addition to a foreclosed property. Once an individual fails to negotiate with the loan servicing company, it is much harder to use an attorney later on to stop a foreclosure due to time constraints and the lender having your current information. Getting to the right person or persons within the mortgage lender's loss mitigation department can be difficult to impossible at times. Some have stories that their documents simply disappeared like the loss mitigation has a magical genie on staff. Mail and faxes may suddenly become misplaced, agreements moved to different departments, etc. Their objective is to collect for their investors. You are not the client to them. The investors are.
Remember the lender is mainly trying to collect delinquent payments, not give you a break. The loan loss mitigation area is not in the business of offering each person that requests 3.00% fixed rate for 5 or 10 years or reduce the principal loan balance down by $100,000. Although, the odds increase when using qualified loan modification companies with an attorney. If they are done at all, it is based on the individual file and must be properly negotiated to achieve positive results. When one uses the loan modification services from a company that has an attorney on staff, they are usually going to have a better outcome.
A loan modification is a long term solution, modified forbearance agreements are designed by the lenders to just get paid. Of coarse they will negotiate with you to get caught up, requiring a portion of the arrearages to be paid up front to reinstate the loan or to stop foreclosure.
Be Careful of Loan Modification Company without an Attorney
There are many loan modification companies also known as loss mitigation companies marketing their success stories, refunds, and principal reductions. If they guarantee a principal reduction, then you need to do business elsewhere because that simply cannot be guaranteed period. It may be a strategy within the loan modification company's marketing but there is no guarantee! If they say refunds, make sure they disclose the refund amount if their processing department deems it not to be a favorable file for a loan modification.
I will agree that not every company out there is untruthful however most of the salesman are working just to make a sales commission. You should work a loan modification company that has attorneys, paralegals and experienced bank negotiators to personally handle files that come in.
What's is a typical loan modification?
A standard loan modification puts the borrower into a comfortable and long term ability to make their new payment. Modifying the mortgage terms of the current loan can involve a very low rate that is fixed for a period of 3 to 7 years then systematically rise to the current market fixed rates. In certain situations, the lender may also choose to decrease the principal loan balance or wipe out part or all of the second lien if it is introduce properly with documentation. In summary, a loan modification should be favorable solution to both the homeowner and the investor.

About the Author:

Homeowners interested in a loan modification program who are behind on their payments or have a financial hardship can apply with a Real Estate Lawyer or visit www.OCRealEstateLawyer.net website to have experienced paralegals, debt negotiators supervised by Attorneys who know this business.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Loan Modification Options - Things You Should Know