CW Loan Modification

[floridasr]

I just found this site and am thankful that I did. It appears to be an excellent resource for Americans struggling to keep their home amongst the large banking lending practices. I have a few questions regarding modifications from CW. I also was contacted by a third party that mostly guaranteed the below results. FHA All Day.com, a law firm.

1) Modification would result in a principal reduction of nearly $100,000; 2) interest rate reduction of at least 2 percent; and 3) late fees would be waived.
Sounds too good to be true right? I found a site that listed reviews of achieving those results (17 reviews) Their fee is $3300 upfront and total refund if not successful. However, refund statement wasn't in the contract. A friend referred me to another lawyer today; he stated that CW wasn't approving any mods at this time and he never heard of a principle reductions being approved.

My questions are:

1) Is CW entertaining modifications at this time or are they on hold?
2) Has anybody heard of the third party or any of the above being accomplished (specifically a reduction to 80% of the value amount)?
3) What would your recommendation be for my specific situation below:

Unfortunately, my house is in Florida and it is my primary residence. I contacted CW for assistance with no success. I have a fixed 6.325 for 298,000 and equity fixed 8.0 for 47,000 (both w/CW). I've been in my home for 3 years. My purchase price was 380,000 (with 20% down) and an additional 50,000 was spent for upgrades. Equity has dropped nearly 50% ($440,000 to 275,000), leaving me no option for refinance. House payment is 45% of my monthly gross income. Regretfully, I did not utilize the 25% rule. In addition, I have too much unsecured debt and can only afford minimum payments. The potential hardships would be 1) recently assisting my adult son with part living expenses and 2) my active duty military status will change for medical reasons, to an involuntary retired status within 14 months or sooner. My income will drop 60% and my medical status will prevent me from working full-time.

My monthly budget utilizes nearly 100% of my income with little flexibility for unplanned expenses or emergencies. I'm current with all payments, but not for long. I have had to deplete the little savings and a major part of my retirement accounts to remain current. I am considering sacrificing my credit and walking away since the value has dropped so much. It also appears that CW rarely assists the customer that has no late payments.

Any input that you can provide from either your expertise or experience would be appreciated.

S.R
Florida

[Dan Bailey]

floridasr,
Glad you found the forum and posted.

1) yes, lenders are doing modifications ,CW included
2)Absolutely not...anyone who promises you a principle reduction is lying and any company that does is a scam. Many scams are being run on homeowners. These "companies" that make these promises are popping up as fast as out of work real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

3) If you have tried to contact CW previously with no luck, and this is your primary residence (only property you own) I would contact NACA:https://www.naca.com/refinance/refinanceSubmission.jsp They are a Non-Profit HUD approaved homeowners advocacy group that has helped many members on the site. There is no charge for their service.

Also, you may continue to try with CW yourself by contacting :
CW home retention: CW Home Retention
1-800-669-0102
I do not know what number you called for CW previously....most CW numbers go to customer service( Known as collections) and those people do not know how/will not help you.
Writing and sending a hardship letter:
http://www.loansafe.org/forum/loan-modification/135-examples-hardship-letter.html#post407 is a good first step.

[floridasr]

Thanks for your quick and informative response. Thankfully, I found this site in time. Many loan mod/foreclosure scam companies are undergoing investigation and are in violation of the new Florida laws and upfront fee practices.

[Dan Bailey]

No problem floridasr....hang in there and good luck! Keep us updated!

[confused?]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum but have already found some great info on here. I'm wondering if anyone could help me with understanding a couple of documents I received in 2002on a home I own? The doc's received is a Release Of Mortgage Corporation form, along with it was a County Clerks release of mortgage document. However, I have not paid off my mortgage, so I'm finding it very odd that these were sent. Do you have any idea what I've got here? If so please fill me in.
Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it!