DENIED-after 10 months of waiting! HELP!

[sadness]

Hi everyone-

I just discovered this site and wow, great info. Here's my sad story...

So my husband and I started the loan modification process on our 1st mortgage with Wamu/Chase back in January 09. My company cut everyone's salary 20% as of Feb 09. We waited 90 days and then we were told to resend everything since they were going to try to modify the loan under the government requirements. Every time I called to check up on the status, there was always something missing (which i was never told to send). Finally on 8/21/09, the full packet went into review. I called twice a week to make sure they were keeping on top of it since there were all these mistakes throughout the year. I don't even want to go into the details of every single call because i'm sure you all know of them, sometimes they are smart and helpful and most times not.

On 9/30/09, we were denied the loan modification. We were told that we had a income/debt ratio of 36% and needed to be at least 40% for our bracket. Turns out when we used the numbers they told us they used, they didn't account for the property taxes and HOA. We are way over the 40%.

I called and called and another person told me that even if we met the 40%, we still didn't qualify because our net income was over 120% of the mortgage. They said that our income was more than 120% of our PDF (??).

Does anyone know about this 120% ratio?
It seems to me that they are basically saying if your mortgage,taxes, HOA is $2000, then your net income can only be up to $2400. That seems a bit ridiculous.

Anyways, we are current customers. We have exhausted almost all of our money to keep our place (we now carry balances on our credit cards in order to make payments, we've cancelled cable, home phone...i even took a supplemental part time job (which only can give me about 8 hours max per week if i'm lucky).

At this point I don't know what to do. Refi doesn't look like an option since we lost about $150k of our value (based off the bank's rough appraisal).

The loan is only in my husband's name...so we might consider defaulting as our last resort.

Any advice? Anyone have success with a Wamu/Chase loan mod? I'm so frustrated.

[Evan Bedard]

Hi Sadness welcome and thank you for joining.

I called and called and another person told me that even if we met the 40%, we still didn't qualify because our net income was over 120% of the mortgage. They said that our income was more than 120% of our PDF (??).

Does anyone know about this 120% ratio?
It seems to me that they are basically saying if your mortgage,taxes, HOA is $2000, then your net income can only be up to $2400. That seems a bit ridiculous.

Thats strange I have never heard that excuse before. This is the first time I have ever heard anything about your net income can not exceed 120% of your mortgage..
That is totally ridiculous because you will have no cash left over for all of your other household expenses. Check out our "Success Stories" section in the forum to find homeowners like yourself who have got a modification.

Just do not give up keep calling and talk to as many reps as needed be because a lot will have no idea what they are talking about like the guy you had talked to.. Also call the loss mitigation department and not regular old customer service..

[sadness]

Evan,

Thanks for the reply. I am usually talking with someone from the imminent default department and the reps are all over the place. I just spoke with someone at loss mitigation to see what program we were denied for and she said that yes the other department was mainly for the govt program, that we will not be able to get any loan mod since we "on paper" can afford our mortgage. Also, she couldn't tell me what kind of income amount would make us qualify and only the underwriter would know that. But of course we can't talk to the underwriter.

Shoot me!

[Evan Bedard]

Evan,

Thanks for the reply. I am usually talking with someone from the imminent default department and the reps are all over the place. I just spoke with someone at loss mitigation to see what program we were denied for and she said that yes the other department was mainly for the govt program, that we will not be able to get any loan mod since we "on paper" can afford our mortgage. Also, she couldn't tell me what kind of income amount would make us qualify and only the underwriter would know that. But of course we can't talk to the underwriter.

Shoot me!

Keep calling and speaking with as many reps as needed be, if you get an answer like you had stated request to speak with someone else or even their supervisor/manager. You will find almost each and every rep will have something different to say. A key factor in successfully achieving a modification is just to get the right person on the phone on the right day. There are some reps who actually do want to help and will take their time to find out all they can for your case...

[c150000]

sadness
what the 120 is: is your debt coverage ratio
divide your monthly NET with your prin and int payment
and it has to be less that 1.20

so take your gross deduct your bills escrow payroll deductions ect
whats left divide by your current prin and intrest and what do you get?

[rsa24]

We were just denied as well after starting the process in February, 2009. After months of faxing current documents, the modification negotiator denied our request stating we could afford our mortgage and could not afford the modified payment. The reasons sited were:fficeffice" />>>
1) Income too high. I disagree as currently 37% of income goes towards home including interest only mortgage, property tax, and insurance.>>
2) Good reserves. Again, I disagreed. The last bank statements showed I had cash in the bank, but they did not take into account that I have a mortgage payment and tax payment due next month, which will take more than my cash reserves. My only option next month is to not pay one of the two bills. I also believe they are including none liquid assets such as 401K and retirement.>>
3) House is valued at more than loan. That is a true statement for the Chase Mortgage, not a true statement when the second from another bank is included.>>
4) Modified payment would be higher than current payment as it would be a 30 yr fix instead of an interest only. True, but I would have accepted a 40 yr fix that would be beneficial to all parties.>>
5) Interest only loan does not reset until 2013. I think they let that one slip. Basically they are stating they want to work with those that are resetting now, not those resetting in the future.>>
>>
At the end of the call after I disputed their findings, they recommended I attempt to refinance with Chase. How can I refinance when they already told me they wouldn't modify the loan because I could not afford a higher payment? I plan to try a refinance with Chase just to prove they are sending us in circles. After that, I think we will try to rent a larger house in our area for less money.

[sadness]

rsa24:

Wow...your story is almost identical to mine. I disagree with their assessment that we our income is high given that when you include 1st and 2nd mortgage, HOA and property taxes, it is definitely more than half of our income.

And same thing about the savings too. The savings statement that was a part of the last "official and complete" package shows about 2/3 of the amount that I am saving for the property taxes due in Dec.

Property value issue- same as yours too.

We have contacted someone from the Chase also in regards to refinancing although I doubt we can get it since we've been carrying more credit card balances to make sure the mortgages are always paid on time.

Good luck!

[rsa24]

I am still waiting for the official denial letter. Once I do, I plan to dispute their findings based on facts (not their interpretation of the facts) and send the letter and my facts to US Treasury at 202-927-5799. After months of getting the run around by Chase (didn’t received documents was the primary excuse), I sent a letter to the US Treasury and within 2 days, I received a call from the Executive Office of Chase. Within two weeks, my case was allegedly reviewed and denied by a negotiator. Evidently, Chase needs to respond to complaints made to the US Treasury.fficeffice" />>>

[sadness]

Wow, smart thinking about contacting the US Treasury!

I got the official denied letter today from Chase (dated 10/2/09). Here is what it says:

Washington Mutual is writing in response to your recent request regarding a loan modification on the above referenced account through the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program...bleh bleh....you do not qualify for a modification under the MHA program or any other modification program we offer for the following reason(s):

Your income exceeds the maximum for our lending program.


Too bad they couldn't have told me this 5 months ago instead of making me wait 10 months to find this out.