Seeking advise on Chase modification

[JOEinNJ]

In May of this year Chase sent us a packet offering a 3 month trial in a Home Loan Modification. At the time we were current with our mortgage. We felt that this program would help us as we like everyone else were struggling to make our payments. We sent everything that was required of us as soon as it was asked for. It has been 6mths since we started this process and our payments have been on time each month for the amount specified in the paperwork, now we have received letters stating that we are in accelerated forclosure and that if they don't get the balance of what's owed by 12/06 that they are going to initiate foreclosure proceedings. When we called Chase they said we are not in foreclosure but we are receiving letters stating the contrary. I am concerned that on 12/6 that the sheriff is going to padlock our house. We also have a home equity on the house that brings the debt owed on the house to more than the value of the house. We are currently going through a bankruptcy to get rid of our unsecured debt so we are not in a financial position to hire an attorney to speak to Chase on our behalf. Can anyone offer any advise as to what to do about our situation?

[heidi79]

According to the computers, you are technically 6 months behind on your mortgage because the full payment amount is not being recieved by the system on the date of your payments. A lot of members are recieving these notices while on the trial plan, they are mostly computer generated forms and don't mean you will be foreclosed on.

One of the requirements on of the HAMP program is that all foreclosure activity is suspended, unfortunately the system on the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Call and make sure that these are just computer generated letters and that you are NOT in fact in any danger of losing your home.

This can get really frustrating I know, because they will not provide anything in writing, maybe someone else can chime in with good suggestions on what they've done about it.

[JOEinNJ]

It just makes me a bit nervous when I read chase selling houses while they are still going thru the modification process.

[zander]

JOE, many of us have recieved the same letters Debt Validation Notices and Collections Activities Notices. I called chase as i am in fifth month of trial mod myself and they say to disregard as they are sent to everyone automatically but i would definately call the number on the letters to confirm easy for them to say disregard it's not their home or their life, let us know what they say to you please would be interested to see if it's the same good luck

[c150000]

JOINNJ
let me also tell you i have recieved on of those letters also
i have called 6 times simce last week about them, and to tell you the truth
ive got 6 diffrent answers,
1- yes your house is in foreclosure your 3 months behind
2- no not in forclosure
3- oh those letters are computer generated system cant see trial payments
4-yes in foreclosure we will stop any sale date i will email that dept for you
5-the notice means nothing sent out automatic
6-not in foreclosure

i called fannie may last week to make sure.. she said NOT IN FORECLOSURE

i asked today: if we are to ignore this notice and i somehow do not make it though
the hamp process and get denied, will this letter iam told to ignore be my warning notice or will i get a new one?
of course you had no answer to that

with that being said i think if you or i am denied, they can use that letter
as our warning and will NOT send another and just go to next step
and thats a lawyer letter with a date and with out the warning it can happen quick
even befor you recive you denial if that was the case
do not wait call and check once, twice, how ever many times,
they are not supose to do this but in the end they are protected with that notice
and we are not.....
i think to myself everyday why i even got involved with this because the fact is i was struggling before and ive done it so long i could live with it i supose,
but this stress is worst!! and not fair, and in the end what will they offer if denied?
ive asked ive benn told you will have to pay off what you owe or go into foreclosure...
we may have options for you and we may not !!! is what i was told
so they dig a hole for us, and we all jump in and they throw dirt over us
a little at a time until there is so much dirt we cant get out
stay on top of every move they make, and good luck to you ...........

[JOEinNJ]

We docallwhen we receive the letters. They do tell us to ignore the letters. It is just the most recent letter had a specific date of Dec.6th we had to be caught up by . Also a day or two later we received a letter from the town we live in offering counseling and advice on pending foreclosure. So apperantly the town gets notified as well.

In my heart I think the modification will go thru ok but in the back of my mind I can't help but feel chase is laying the groundwork for speedy forclosure if they chose to go that way.

[zander]

I think that i have read on one of these posts that if you are bk that will stay forclosure perhaps not if it is only debt bk and does not effect home, maybe you could ask the lawyer 'a quick question' free of charge they may give you some advice so sorry to hear what you are going through, there are some very knowledgeable people here hopefully they can give you some advice as to next step

[JOEinNJ]

What gets me is my wife lost her job in Sept.of 08. We were able to keepup with our bills till the end of Dec.08. When we realized we could not survive like this we initiated bankruptcy and contacted chase to let them know we were in trouble. The told us there was nothing they could do. We focused on our other expenses like car payments, gas & elect., foodetcand let the mortgage fall behind 2 months. Now all of a sudden if we could bring our mortgage current we could start the 3 month loan modification process.This would reduce out mortgage from 2,700 to 2,000 per month.
The requests for the same info over and over is crazy. Then they tellus the inital authorization we gave them to access tax info and such has expired so fill those forms out again and fax them over.
I really thought we could put both the bankruptcy and loan modification behind us before the new year.

I want to thank everyone for the responces so far. I plan on checking in frequently. I just found this site this morning and was amazed by all I read.

One specific question perhaps someone can address is about our home equity loan. Our first mortgage is with chase butthe home equity is with wachovia. They say there is no modification for us as we are paying 4% now so there is nothing they can do for us. we owe the first mortgage company, chase , what the house is worth today. With the home equity we are underwater by about $150,000. Did I read correctly that this is now an unsecured debt and banks are setteling for 10-15 % to right it off? Providing it is a one time payment.
Just trying to gather info.If I callthem again I would like to know.

[snapple candy]

Joe,
Zander is correct. While in BK, their is an Automatic Stay in effect and they cannot sell or do anything with your home. I suggest you speak with your BK attorney and perhaps have them generate a letter to the lender in response just to cover your butt.

As for 2nd. They wont really do anything by way of modification until you become delinquent. I stopped paying and a few months later started to see some action. Yes they are doing one time settlements. Again you should speak to BK attorney. You may be able to discharge the 2nd in BK. Now would be the time to consider this before your BK is discharged and/or a good position to negotiate a one-time settlement. You may want to offer your BK attorney additional monies if he worked for a flat fee for the other...they dont like to work for free and wont help you if you dont.

[JOEinNJ]

I agree I need to discuss this with the bk attorney. I owe $150,000 on the home equity with wachovia and am paying about $500/month just in interest. I have been afraid to miss a payment on the equity loan because they reduced the interest slighty for me to allow automatic interest only payments from my checking account. I have not been able to put anything on the princaple. Anyway I have been afraid if no money was in the account for automatic payment the interest rate may jump.

[smit5454]

I receive these notices too, and every time I call they say "toss them in the trash" since they are computer generated.

Now, the one thing written in my trial period plan document is the following.

"In the event that bankruptcy is filed during the course of this agreement, the agreement will become void."

[JOEinNJ]

We have informed chase from the start of the bankruptcy and they told us as long as it is chapter 7 and not 13 it did not concern them.