Mortgage Modifications – Helpful Hints To Help You Succeed
Have you tried to modify your mortgage? Are you tired and frustrated of the process? For those of you wondering why your lender/servicer is not working with on your mortgage, don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s them. The sad fact of the matter is lender/servicers are not doing much for anyone. Nothing proved this point to me more until I read an article about a foreclosure in Ohio by JPMorgan Chase Bank against a Cuyahoga County court judge.
Apparently the judge sought a loan modification from his mortgage company/servicer Chase (maybe some of you can relate to this already) and was told the same song and dance that most of our clients in Southwest Florida have been told, “They can only help him unless he is behind on his payments.” After hearing the tall tale that help would come following delinquency, the judge stopped paying his mortgage. A year later, his home is in foreclosure and, not surprisingly, no help or response has been provided by Chase. So, now the judge is left to fight the foreclosure.
Modifications, especially ones that are helpful, are almost nonexistent. If you are in the process of trying to obtain a modification, here are a few important tips:
• Send all correspondence via certified mail, return receipt requested;
• If you do fax a document, save the fax confirmation;
• Keep copies of everything that you send and that you receive;
• Do not believe anything your told on the telephone;
• Send a confirmation letter summarizing your conversation after every telephone call;
• Send updated income information, bank statements, and updated hardship letter each month (whether or not requested);
• If offered a loan modification, make sure it is in your long-term best interest, sometimes a modification may still send you in the financial doom;
• If you are served with foreclosure, see a foreclosure defense attorney immediately – do not listen to the lender if they tell you that you don’t need to worry about; and
• Keep the right mindset to avoid discouragement and being taken advantage of – expect the worst and hope for the best.
This Blog was written by Attorney David Fineman, Esq. of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Mr. Fineman practices Bankruptcy Law, Fair Credit Reporting Act Law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Law and in other areas of Consumer Law.
