loan modification

Mortgage Modification Companies – Are They Legit?

Facing possible foreclosure is indeed a highly stressful situation for any homeowner; this is your home, your security, your future! Deciding to go it alone or have a mortgage modification company assist you can be very confusing and only adds to your stress! Which is best for you? Are there mortgage modification companies out there that are legitimate?

Let’s first look at going through the process on your own. Depending upon your lender there are many requirements that must be met to qualify for a mortgage modification. There are a lot of forms and crucial information that must be presented correctly and accurately if you hope to qualify.

You can do the research required; you can contact your lender yourself as millions have although you may not have a successful outcome! Remember, your lender is looking out for their best interest. Therefore lenders will do as little as possible and may not always give you as good of a modification as you may receive with a seasoned loan mitigation specialist working on your side.

One good strategy is to have a Forensic Loan Audit performed. These audits have shown that more than 83% of residential loans done over the past 5 years are non-compliant or may contain loan fraud. Armed with a forensic loan audit, a professional advocate will have a much better opportunity to get you the best overall loan modification.

The key here is to do your homework! The problem is that most people don’t know exactly what their lender requires! Leaving out even one form or one piece of vital information could be the determining factor in qualifying and getting approved!

If you are comfortable doing the research and filling out the forms and in dealing directly with your lender than you can certainly do this on your own! However, it is somewhat like going to court and defending yourself – as your own attorney.

If you don’t feel quite as confident and want help, it is available! There are legitimate mortgage modification companies that will walk you through the process and deal with your lender so you don’t have to.

You do need to do some homework before choosing someone to assist you! There are some scams out there to be wary of! Mortgage modification companies will charge a fee that can be thousands of dollars.

For many homeowners it is worth paying that fee for the security of knowing the company is dealing with the lender to get you the best possible modification loan. The choice is truly up to you! Make sure to investigate the mortgage modification companies prior to choosing one to work on your behalf.

You can also hire an attorney to help you with the loan modification process. Usually an attorney will charge more than the mortgage modification companies will because an attorney is on retainer. Keep in mind that you do not need an attorney for this process, again that is up to you!

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How To Stop Foreclosure – 3 Legitimate Solutions

To Stop Foreclosure in nearly any city in the United States of America, there are basically only a few legitimate options. Some of these you’ll know, and some will be brand new to you.

Here are a few directions you can take:

Sell your house prior to the foreclosure auction. The value of this idea will vary heavily depending on the nature and quality of your local real estate market. If you’re in a market that still has very slow resale rates, selling your home could be a challenge. Ask a local real estate agent to determine the average number of days on the market for properties in your area.
Initiate a Forensic Loan Audit, which will likely reveal in a non-compliant loan, that will compel you lender to offer you a loan modification. A loan modification is a process through which your lender changes the payment terms of your loan to more closely match your ability to pay. While this is not a guarantee, loan modifications have become more popular in the last 12 months.
Refinance the property. If you are not yet fully into the foreclosure process but have reason to expect you will fall behind on your payments, it may be wise to try to refinance your mortgage to a lower rate. If your property is worth less than the balance of the mortgage, you’ll want to inquire regarding a “short refinance”, which is when a lender forgives a portion of the debt against you in order for you to refinance your property and pay off the remainder of the debt you owe.

When you’re trying to stop a foreclosure, the key is fast action.

Warning: Be very wary of people who aggressively attempt to purchase your home for investment purposes. While there are many legitimate real estate investors, there has been a significant amount of fraud with “Stop Foreclosure” scams, and it is wise to be very, very careful.

Please remember: The crisis you now face will soon be over. As a foreclosure survivor myself, I’d like to encourage you to remain hopeful, and to understand that your future does not equal your past!

Thanks for reading this information about how to stop foreclosure.

I hope you’ve found value here.

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Documents You Need To Avoid Foreclosure

When homeowners or their legal advocates are performing research on a mortgage, there are numerous documents that may help inform their case against a mortgage company.

These can include mortgage documents, information available in the public record, and other information found through fighting a lawsuit in the courts. Thus, borrowers should be aware of these various categories of documents and how they can help in defending a home.

The original mortgage documents are the most important in defending against a bank’s foreclosure attempt. If there are any mistakes or fraudulent aspects discovered in these, the entire loan may be invalidated or a court-ordered loan modification plan may be put into place.

It is estimated that over 85% of all residential mortgages funded over the past 7 years are non-compliant or fraudulent. Signs of abusive lending or clauses that may provide remedies to foreclosure should be searched for by the borrowers. A Forensic Loan Audit will best determine if a loan is non-compliant.

There are five documents that homeowners may wish to consider the most important when they are searching for the original paperwork. These are the following:

- HUD-1 Settlement Statement

- Truth in Lending disclosure and Rescission Notice

- Note for the loan

- Deed of Trust or Mortgage

- Appraisal

If a mortgage servicing company is involved in the collection of the payments on a monthly basis and responsible for the foreclosure process, homeowners should begin collecting documents related to the servicing. Servicer abuse is rampant, as the entire industry was set up from the beginning to prey upon homeowners and reward corrupt or fraudulent companies for pushing people into foreclosure.

There are several documents that homeowners should attempt to obtain from servicers and compare with their own copies of documents and calculations.

- Payoff Statement

- Complete payment history

- Contact history and notes on the account

- Disclosure of current owner of underlying loan

- Servicing transfer notice(s)

- Pooling and Servicing Agreement (PSA)

After obtaining the documents from the original lending transaction and relevant information from the servicing company, homeowners should begin to look into public records. The bank, its attorneys, and any potential bidders will examine public records to find out as much as possible about the owners and the property. Borrowers should do the same to research the lender, servicer, and owner of the loan.

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Searching public records can present endless sources of information for homeowners in researching mortgage companies. Just a few ideas are listed here:

- Land records from the county recorder

- Securities and Exchange Commission documents

- Complaints against companies with regulatory agencies

- Record of company through Better Business Bureau and other advocacy groups

- Records of other lawsuits the bank has been involved in

- General internet searches

- Corporate documents and accounting statements

Before going into court, these documents can help homeowners begin to build a decent case for why a foreclosure should not allowed to go through. There are also numerous other documents that can be obtained in the discovery process in court, which will be covered in a later article. The types of documents and the purposes for each in the defense of the home present vast potential for homeowners trying to stop foreclosure.

Just like lenders examine borrowers’ records to determine if they will qualify for a loan, homeowners should go through the exact same series of steps to determine if a bank has a legitimate right to foreclose or not. In many cases, they may uncover enough irregularities in the loan to force the bank into a mortgage modification or, if that is not offered or appropriate, have the entire foreclosure lawsuit dismissed out of court.

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