Monday, February 23, 2009

What Homeowners Should Know About the Loan Modification Process

If you are facing increasing problems in keeping up with your monthly mortgage payments and feel you might be heading towards default or even a foreclosure, then you can follow a few simple steps to ensure that you do everything it takes to avoid the worst case scenario of losing your home.




One thing you must always remember that it is easier than you think to avoid a foreclosure. As you evaluate your situation, you need is patience and a calm mind. It goes without saying that the first step in avoiding a foreclosure is trying not to overly stress out about it. You need to be able to think in a logical and practical manner and make sure you utilize every option available to you. If you panic, then you might miss out on some things that could help you in saving your home.




The next step is to sit down with your family and talk about what you are going to do to avoid a foreclosure. You need to talk to your spouse or family members to make sure they are on the same page as you. Don???t be afraid to assign tasks to your family members to help you get done what needs to be done. You cannot do it alone.




Once you talk it out with your family, you need to make sure you have all documents with respect to your existing mortgage, employment information, bank statements, list of all investments, savings accounts etc. You need to make sure that if a mortgage lender asks for a particular document; you have it with you and not make them wait to receive it. The more time you take running back and forth, the more time you lose from trying to modify your loan or worst case, save your home from foreclosure. Hence, you need to keep not only your documents ready, but your spouse???s documents as well if you are both producing income.




If there are other earning members in the family, then make sure they have their respective details all neatly filed and ready to provide to the respective bank or home loan modification consultant. Once this is done, you need to take the next step which is probably the most important step in the whole process. You need to contact a home loan modification consultant. It is a loan modification consultant that will guide you and help negotiate a better mortgage plan with your existing lender so you don???t get taken advantage of by your lender.




Make sure that the loan modification consultant you go to does not charge you until after your loan modification application has been approved by your lender. This typically takes 6-8 weeks. If a home loan modification company is charging you an upfront fee, this is a red flag. Law firms always charge extraordinarily high upfront fees and there is no guarantee they can get something done for you. Most lawyers will tell you that you need them to bully your bank into getting a loan modification done for you and it???s usually the opposite. Law firms handling home loan modifications can take twice as long to get something done because their area of expertise is not making phone calls on your behalf and underwriting and processing your paperwork. Loan modifications require persistence and daily contact with your lender to make sure your lender prioritizes your situation.




Once you are in contact with a loan modification consultant, tell them about your difficulty. Ideally you should make a list of problems you are facing before talking to the consultant and have your financial documents in front of you. The consultant will want to know about your financial hardship to determine what they can do for you.




The good news is once you have handed over all documents and explained your situation properly to the consultant; they will take over from there and follow up with the bank to get you a better interest rate or lower monthly payments.




Believe it or not, the above steps are quite easy and do not take much time at all. While research on all your options is important, action is the key to getting it done. If you think you might need a loan modification, don???t delay in talking to your bank or a loan modification company because time is of the essence.


Bridget Toomey is a licensed real estate and loan modification consultant in the state of California. Since the economic downturn in early 2007 she has focused her time on assisting homeowners who have home loan modification needs. To know more about her or if you have any questions, please visit www.loanmodificationfoundation.com

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Article Source: www.articlesnatch.com

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