If it seems like I have a bone to pick with the mortgage servicers these days, I do. Here is another example of a home being foreclosed upon by the lender while they were in a trial modification. This story appears in the Herald Tribune.
Here is the real kicker:
In April, Chase, which had taken over Washington Mutual, lowered her payment to $1,033.62 in a trial that was supposed to last three months. Then, in October, a startling legal notice arrived in the mail: Chase had foreclosed on her house and sold it at auction for $100 . (The purchaser? Chase.) “I cried,” Smith said. “I was hysterical.”
Later that week came another letter from Chase: “Congratulations on qualifying for a Making Home Affordable loan modification!” When Smith frantically tried to overturn the sale, she was told that the house was no longer hers.
This just affirms my thinking that we can not trust the banks to help during a modification, especially when I hear stories such as this on a regular basis. And YES, it can happen to you.
My suggestion is that you use a qualified and respected loan modification company to deal with the lenders for you. Yes, there is a cost and NO, it is not cheap. It is, however, very inexpensive when you think about the better terms in which you could get, the fact that you have professionals negotiating for you that are experienced in this, and the decreased level of frustration and sleep deprivation you may experience when trying to do this yourself.
Come to think of it, the horror stories I usually hear start with “I was negotiating with the banks and…”, instead of “I had a professional company negotiating with my bank and…”.
I have a company that I work with that is very good, but there are some states (Illinois for instance) that they cannot work in due to State laws regarding loan modifications. There are no guarantees, but you never know until you try. With no up-front fees, it’s costs nothing to find out! Even if you have been denied a modification in the past…
If you would like some more information, feel free to contact me via email at scott@nwiloanguy.com. You can also visit my website here to get more information on loan modifications.
