Has anyone received mortgage "relief"?

**Lisahas2cats** · 02-07-2009, 02:20 PM

My DH (sole earner) was laid off January 15th, pretty much out of the blue. I called our mortgage company the next business day to let them know the situation and to make 2 months of payments (so we wouldn't have to worry about it for that long). They said that since Freddie Mac "owns" (that isn't the right term, but you know what I mean) our loan, we could apply for their foreclosure avoidance program (but not until we were more than 30 days late on a payment). It sounds like there are several options, from the really helpful (dropping your interest rate enough to drop your monthly payments) to the cringe-inducing (short-sale that won't murder your credit...uh, but you'd still be homeless).

I'm wondering if anyone has had real-life experience with "foreclosure avoidance" with their lenders? We know that realistically, DH's chances of finding another job are very slim (he has Multiple Sclerosis, and his former boss and co-workers compensated a lot with his new cognitive limitations), so this is going to be a long-term situation.

Any advice appreciated!
Lisa

**barky586** · 02-07-2009, 04:40 PM

No advice to you on this subject, but I have heard that, until you get behind, they won't do diddly for you.....never mind that the money you have in the bank may have to last a long time! I'm wondering if your husband wouldn't be a good candidate for social security disability. For sure, apply for unemployment now, because if he would be approved for the disability, it could be a long wait.

**Patty A** · 02-07-2009, 04:58 PM

Check your mortgage to see if you have disability insurance on it!?? If it has it, your may be able to get the insurance company to make your payments if your husband is having health issues. Be sure to check it out as it really does help! If you have the insurance they usually kick in at about 2 to 4 weeks of not being able to work. So be sure to check it out.

**Lisahas2cats** · 02-07-2009, 05:03 PM

Barky, I'm working on DH's application for SS disability this weekend. He did get his unemployment started, so there's that much anyway

Patty, I will check out the disability insurance on the mortgage! I assume that the rep I spoke with would have mentioned it if we had it.........but we know what happens when we "ass"ume, LOL! Thanks for the info!

**Maisiedotes** · 06-23-2009, 07:30 PM

We just 10 minutes ago applied for it- I am no help but I will tell you we just listed our house for sale which will most likely result in a short sale and I asked them if we could send half a month's rent for now. Our mortgage company said they will either send the payment back to me or put it into an "unapplied funds" account till we have enough in there to make a payment. I asked if there was any way at all to pay less and they said if we enter a forebearance program, we could pay 80% of the payment due for a few months but then after that we would have to pay the extra we owe. And it will go on our credit report as delinquent but as long as we are in the program, we won't go into foreclosure.

It is frustrating. I hope your mortgage company is better than mine.

**Nana2two** · 06-23-2009, 09:01 PM

These days i would not trust any mortgage company .

**NikoSan999** · 06-24-2009, 10:21 PM

I just talked to a lawyer after being served papers june 4th. In short sale or foreclosure when it goes to court they can ask for a judgement meaning you would still owe the difference between what it sells for and what is owed and that IS with all the lawyer fees, late fees etc. OR the mortgage company can send a 1099 to you and also the IRS for the difference in selling at which point it is considered income and you will have to pay the going income tax brackett for that amount. Nothing like kicking you when you are down. Know cause we are going thru it. Only way to get out of it completely, totally is to file bankruptcy. Many say the foreclosure or short sale is just as bad on your credit. So if the situation is really bad and you seriously don't think he is going to find a job and you have a lot of debt....I know it's not what this board is about but bankruptcy is an option to be free and clear. and to start over. Especially if you are going to have a ton of medical. Heart is with you.

**frugalfranny** · 06-24-2009, 11:37 PM

Sorry lisa, no advice but know that I am thinking about you during this stressful time. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

**Telephus44** · 06-27-2009, 02:16 PM

I do have a friend who successfully got his mortgage modified, but it was after he was 3 months late in payments, and in my opinion, he didn't get a real good deal, either (30 year fixed at 6.75 percent change to a 40 year fixed at 4.875 percent).

I did read an article recently on PMI lenders helping people with loan modifications and staying current on payments if it was a temporary set back. If you have PMI, you might want to call the company and ask if there is anything they can do for you.

**RebeccaCorley** · 06-28-2009, 04:47 PM

THere is a chapter thirteen bankruptcy, it takes all you r debt consolidates it and breakes it down into monthly payments over five years. Free legal aid doesn't help with chapter thirteens but you get to keep your home and depending on your lawyer you can pay just a percentage of what you owe. It sucks, ruins you credit for seven years, and the lawyer will ask for around 1000.00 downpayment and then he will add the rest of his bill to your bankruptcy. but you get to keep living in the comfort of your own home. I think your situation would deffinately get sympathy from the court. It takes a long time to get a court date, so don't wait get started. By the way once you get your lawyer secured, you can stop paying your payments and tell them to contact him about your debt at least until the repayment plan is created, it gives you a little bit of time to breathe. That's all i know, good luck

**RebeccaCorley** · 06-28-2009, 04:54 PM

my mom was divorced and diabetic. She had a lot of medical bills, we called the hospital billing department and asked them if there was any help for her. There was, they made us come get forms, and we had to provide all sorts of income documentation, but in the end they wrote off all her bills that her piss poor pay for your own we don't cover pre existing conditions insurance didn't pay. If you have a lot of medical bills, give this a try. Don't wait there was a time limit to apply for help, we just made it in the nick of time.

**dolphin** · 06-28-2009, 07:44 PM

Be sure you are speaking to the Loss Mitigation Department of your Mortgage Co.

We escaped foreclosure 3 years ago by taking part in a "repayment plan". It took all of 3 unpaid payments and spread them out over time. Our payments increased and we were reported as "late" every month for those 3 years. But it was all that was available to us at that time.

We just recently asked for other options and were offered a "Loan Modification". We are with Flagstar Bank Mortgage Co. They took our past due amount and put it at the end of the loan. They charged us a fee of $151.00 to do the modification and also added that to the end of the loan. Our interest was lowered by only 1% but it was enough to bring our payments including escrow payments to $688.00 a month. Our loan modifiction is for 10 years and at the end of 10 years a baloon payment is due, yikes! But, we have 10 years to get our home refinanced and avoid the ballon payment. Actually, at the end of 12 months our 'guy' in the loss mitigation is going to try and get us refinanced with FHA so that we'll not be subject to that ballon payment. We are once again 'on track' with our mortgage payments.

There were 3 things that qualified us...

1. We were behind on our payments.
2. We had a significant change in dh's income.
3. We had less than 33% of our income available for mortgage payments after subtracting medical costs, food, credit card debt and utilities.

Hope this helps you in some way. We couldn't afford an attorney to look over our loan modification offer but we had a loan officer where dh banks look it over and she said it was a sound and typical modification plan and recommended that we sign it. We don't trust the mortgage company either but we didn't have much choice.

Good luck.

**Anna81WA** · 06-29-2009, 08:50 AM

Hi, yes I am new here but we just modified our mortgage! It took a long time but we were able to lower our interest rate and roll our late payments into the principal...we did not want to lose our home so we did everything we could to keep it. My DH is making a lot less than he was 2 years ago and we got in over our heads.

**kimmy4433** · 06-29-2009, 08:48 PM

How do you start a loan mod? I was behind April, May, and I will be behind June on Wednesday. However I paid April and Mays payment. Should I have not paid those and called Flagstar? They sent me notification our payment is going up again, from 1047 to 1178 a month. Some how our escrow is short again, (only thing is our tax rate dropped and so did our SEV). When I first gought our house the payment was 864 a month and it has gone up 300 and we have only lived here for 2 years.

I will call Flagstar tomorrow and see if their LMD can advise me on anything. With owing for June and July, and our other bills we will have no food money this month. Good thing for a stocked freezer, and for DH getting 5 paychecks and me 3 UIA checks I can pay June, July, and August and hopefully get cought up.

Enough Rambleing sorry!