SUCCESS With Citi Mortgage!

[gizmofab]

Update: We recieved a call from Sergio while we were away at my daughters Worlds competition (her team came in 9th out of 68 in the world). He said the papers were overnighted to us. We would get them when we got home. Well we are home and have read the papers. SUCCESS!!!!! We went from 6.7% to 5.5. Our payments were 4,522 and now they will be 4,066. We have to make July's payment by May 15 and than the next payment will be due August 1st. This will allow us to play catch up with some bills. Thank you to *** and all at Loan Safe who made me feel there was hope and not so alone. You guys are great.

[Moe Bedard]

Congratulations to you and your daughter!!

[gizmofab]

Update: Our loan was modified by Sergio back in May....we were and still are very grateful. However, success has been overshadowed by false promises. We were told no credit agency reporting. Citimortgage as of today has reported us to all credit agencys as being 13,564 delinquent. It has resulted in what credit we have had to be cancelled by two companies. It has made purchasing our current lease almost impossible at an interested rate of over 16%. It is a disaster. I contacted the credit dispute department as citmortgage told me to do and they denied any adjusting request. It has devistated our credit.

[crewof5]

Hi Gizmofab,

Congrats on your loan mod!

We are just starting our 3 month trial period. We are scheduled to make first payment next week.

We were promised that during the trial period that they would put a freeze on reporting to the credit agencies.

Did you keep a log of who you talked to? I am thinking if you can keep diputing the reporting and have names of people who told you it wuoldn't be reported that might help. Also, you can dispute with the credit agencies themselves and you can add all the details of what you were told, they credit agencies have to do an investigation. Maybe if you bug both places enough they will make the changes.

I am getting incresingly nervous about this trial periiod though, it seems like more and more people are taking hits on their credit.

[Ragtopgal]

I would be interested myself in any update on the credit reporting. I will be facing the same situation and my credit was in the high 700's. It seems ridiculous that if one is making a trial payment(s) as instructed, they are still considered late and are reported each month. I've never been late, but was instructed to make trial payments, so I made one. Now I'm late and I'm NOT in the program yet, since they did not send for my value of my house, so I start over the process of basically applying for the program and I had to make up the difference from the trial payment to my actual real payment; $1600, so now I'm current for June, but where will I get July's payment from?. Anyway, I've posted about that, elsewhere but it sounds like there is a credit dispute department at CitiM? I would be interested to know if anyone succeeds in Citi actually reversing and proof that they did as they may have promised. I will definitely contact the credit reporting agencies and dispute all of this, but if CitiM did it, I wouldn't have to.

[lal5190]

Beware!!! Beware!!! (I did the second one because I needed 10 chaharcters).

[jillybean]

I was told there would not be a "freeze" on credit reporting but there would be notes attached to the late payments stating a payment agreement has been reached. Once the mod is permanent your payments are not showing late because aren't making "partial" payments under the trial.

I talked to someone who used to work for a credit reporting agency for 10 years who said that a few 30 or even 60 day late payments aren't really that big of a deal if you do take the hit on your credit score, and once you start the permanent mod, when you will no longer be reported as late, your credit will recover those lost points pretty quickly. It's the 90 days past due reports which cause the greatest damage to your score and leave a longer lasting mark.

Personally, by getting my loan modified, I am keeping my home and will not have the need to apply for credit in the near future so I could care less what my credit score is for the next year or two. I'm saving my house, that's the bigger picture here.

[frustratedinphoenix]

I'm new to this site, and I find it very helpful...thanks!
I too, after months of frustrating and conflicting phone calls with CitiMortgage, have been told that we were "pre-qualified" for the three month trial period. Our first trial payment will be due in the next couple of weeks. From reading this thread, it sounds like it might be more of the same after this initial three month period: confusion and uncertainty. I am a little unclear as to what I am supposed to do at the end of this time period. Will CitiM automatically send me the paperwork at this time, or do I need to keep calling? If I don't get a response right away, do I send in the "modified" amount again for the 4th month?
I am a little skeptical too, as we had such a terrible time getting this first part going.
Thanks!

[Evan Bedard]

Hi pheonix,


Welcome and thank you for joining the forum..


First off do not start sending in the modified payment until they send you the mod trial paperwork. The plan will not be in affect until you sign and confirm the lender has recieved it. After this 3 month trial is over, what happens next will vary case by case. Theres a possibility that the bank will send you a permanent mod almost immediately after. But in some cases you will need to contact your lender after the trial is over and provide updated info. One thing for sure is that if they offer you this program it is very likely you will recieve a good mod for the life of the loan

[frustratedinphoenix]

Thank you so much for the quick response!
As far as not sending in the payment until the paperwork arrives goes.....I argued with one of the reps about this. I told her that I would not send a payment in until I had the paperwork in front of me. What I was told was that we were one of the "lucky" ones that were actually pre-qualified over the phone (with just our "verbal" financial info)---this was on 6/22. We were given the terms--payment amount & rates during this phone call. Based on this date (6/22), we we were told that we would need to have a payment sent in within 30 days or we would be disqualified from the program. I was told by one rep that the paperwork would take 7-10 days to arrive, was told 30-40 days by another, and finally the last one told me that hopefully our initial trial period paperwork would arrive before the payment was due...but that if it did NOT, we were still supposed to send in the payment (to an address that was provided to me), so that we would not be disqualified.
There is so much frustrating history behind us even getting to this point. I won't bore you, and it sounds like you guys have heard it all, but this last CitiM contact was someone who was referred to me by one of their Loss Mitigation attorneys. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about, and said that they are so overwhelmed by people trying to get into these programs, that the paperwork--originally intended to take between 7-10 days--was now taking approx. 30-40 days, but that the payment due date was still based on the initial approval date, which in my case was 6/22/09. ??
I am encouraged by your comment about--if we get this modification, it will be for the life of the loan--that would be great!
Thanks again!!!

[abcxyz]

Originally Posted by frustratedinphoenix

Thank you so much for the quick response!
As far as not sending in the payment until the paperwork arrives goes.....I argued with one of the reps about this. I told her that I would not send a payment in until I had the paperwork in front of me. What I was told was that we were one of the "lucky" ones that were actually pre-qualified over the phone (with just our "verbal" financial info)---this was on 6/22. We were given the terms--payment amount & rates during this phone call. Based on this date (6/22), we we were told that we would need to have a payment sent in within 30 days or we would be disqualified from the program. I was told by one rep that the paperwork would take 7-10 days to arrive, was told 30-40 days by another, and finally the last one told me that hopefully our initial trial period paperwork would arrive before the payment was due...but that if it did NOT, we were still supposed to send in the payment (to an address that was provided to me), so that we would not be disqualified.
There is so much frustrating history behind us even getting to this point. I won't bore you, and it sounds like you guys have heard it all, but this last CitiM contact was someone who was referred to me by one of their Loss Mitigation attorneys. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about, and said that they are so overwhelmed by people trying to get into these programs, that the paperwork--originally intended to take between 7-10 days--was now taking approx. 30-40 days, but that the payment due date was still based on the initial approval date, which in my case was 6/22/09. ??
I am encouraged by your comment about--if we get this modification, it will be for the life of the loan--that would be great!
Thanks again!!!

If I was you, i'd make the payment. Why RISK losing the modification by not following one of their "rules" (i.e., you must pay within 30 days or you will be disqualified). You have to pay your mortgage every 30 days anyway, so just send the payment. I was told the same thing, initially 7-10 days, but now 30-40 or more since they are swamped. It's been exactly 1 month for me since they did the mod, and I've made 2 payments. So I hope the paperwork comes soon...

[crewof5]

Hi All,

We too were pre approved for the HAM program on June 11th and told the same as everyone else:

Make the first payment by July 11th eve if we don't have the paperwork or we would be disqualified. We are making the payment on Monday so we make sure it post on time. We were not given an address to send the payment though we were given a phone number to call and make the payment over the phone. They told us the first payment of the trial period was the most important payment to make and to not be late on it!

We were not given any terms of our loan though, just the amount to be paid during the trial period and what our drive by appraissal was. I told my husband that when he calls to make the payment he needs to ask for more details. Wehave been trying to keep a good phone log of everyone we talk to and what they tell us. The guy that pre approved us said we will see all the details of the mod in the paperwork and to wait for that. I don't really like that though, especailly since many others are getting the full scoop when they are pre approved. We are still waiting for our paperwork as well.

[abcxyz]

Like I posted in a previous email, talk to different reps and you'll get different information, so just keep calling and asking all the same questions. One rep wouldn't give me the appraisal value because she said she was not supposed to and that Citi paid for the appraisal, so she didn't want to give it to me. How stupid is that?!? I called in a few days later to talk to someone else, asked her the appraisal value and she gave it to me right away. So what I do whenever I talk to a rep is ask them ALL the same questions as if they're the first person i'm talking to, and I write down everything, and look for the consistencies and inconsistencies. Some reps didn't even tell me the terms and details of the loan, but the last rep told me everything. So next time I call in, which will be in the next few days, I'm going to ask them all the same questions, when I get all the same answers, that way I know they're all on the same page and it matches what I've been told in the past...I still need to check my credit score, but will wiat a few weeks to let it flow through to see if my last payment adversely affected my score in any way...

[CW California]

hey abc
Hopefully your score will hang in there. I'm pulling for you!

[ajatkinsaz]

I've heard that you need to pay the new amount during the trial period too - nothing more or nothing less or risk being disqualified. Not 100% on that...

[abcxyz]

Ok, talked to a rep today, he said the trial period DOES affect your credit reporting because you're making a lower payment than what your original payment supposed to be.

I guess my credit score going down would not bother me if I got the modification permanent after this trial period, because I'd rather be paying way less on my mortgage and having a lower credit score (temporarily) than paying what i'm paying and have a high credit score. So the only way it would tick me off, is if my score went down and later the modification wasn't approved permanently...

[CW California]

Originally Posted by abcxyz

Ok, talked to a rep today, he said the trial period DOES affect your credit reporting because you're making a lower payment than what your original payment supposed to be.

I guess my credit score going down would not bother me if I got the modification permanent after this trial period, because I'd rather be paying way less on my mortgage and having a lower credit score (temporarily) than paying what i'm paying and have a high credit score. So the only way it would tick me off, is if my score went down and later the modification wasn't approved permanently...

Here's the thing. The servicers are instructed on the Obama Plan to report the customers as current during the trial period if the customer is current going into the trial. *** had posted the documentation somewhere around here. I will try to find it. Two things might be happening. 1) Is anyone actually on the MHA plan if they have not received the documents, signed and returned?(and is this how the servicer is getting around it) OR 2)Can the servicer get around this reporting issue by reporting current but reduced payment amount?

Bottom line is, by reporting a customer delinquent who is current going into the trial period under the MHA, the bank is not following the "spirit" of the plan. Maybe we all need to go to the TARP web site and report this. The idea of the MHA plan was to help homeowners at risk, not f___ up their credit and make life miserable for them.

[SillyWorld]

Yea even when it was made to help the economy, if our credit goes down so will the purchase power to do anything, and if your payment shows lower than other services like CCC will have but one choice to lower your amount and raise your interest.

[MAXIE19]

CW

The Obama guidelines actually state that if the borrower is current going into the trial plan that the servicer is to report them "current but on a modified payment". I believe that language triggers the derogatory impact on your credit rating because it signals that you are no longer able to live up to the original terms of your loan obligation.

[CW California]

yea maggie that sounds right. I can't seem to find the guidelines. Do you know where they are that includes that language? There have already been people that have been reported as delinquent as opposed to modified.

[MAXIE19]

Question 28

https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/sd0901faqs.pdf

[maggieb]

If you can't make a baloon payment , do they foreclose?

[CW California]

Originally Posted by MAXIE19

Question 28

https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/sd0901faqs.pdf

Thanks Maxie.
So "Current but on a modified payment." Now that I see that I bet that was a statement that was negotiated by the banks. Hopefully if people that are reported can make sure to fight to be reported that way as opposed to 30,60 and 90 days late it won't be too bad of a hit. I wonder though what it will be "code" for in the future?

[SillyWorld]

Originally Posted by maggieb

If you can't make a baloon payment , do they foreclose?

Usualy at the end of a Trial perod, if you signed no docs they then deciede if you qualify, If not then they demand Balloon payment for the difference missed during the triaL wHICH IS VERY sILLY, But if your still over 31% I would contact NACA asap! If you cry to them yopu do not have the makeup $$ it is possible they can go 40yr with unpaid balloon at the end

[restless]

Originally Posted by MAXIE19

CW

The Obama guidelines actually state that if the borrower is current going into the trial plan that the servicer is to report them "current but on a modified payment". I believe that language triggers the derogatory impact on your credit rating because it signals that you are no longer able to live up to the original terms of your loan obligation.

That's what my credit report shows. It hasn't changed my credit score at all. We have a 702 and that is even with a recent Chapter 7 discharge.