Please...help us save our home

[mks2008]

hi everyone, this seems to be a great resource. i'm looking for advice on where to go next w/ our STRESSFUL situation. i will write in timeline format to keep it readable and not long winded.

September 2006 - purchased our home for $145,000 on a 3 yr arm @ 7.15%. We did not escrow the loan and it was sold shortly after to CW. This would prove to be a mistake in that we were talked into it by a mortgage broker no longer in business as of today.

January 2008 - Our 1st child is born (i'm only including this because i'm a proud daddy and i love him!!!)

June 2008 - CW sends us a letter informing us that our $5000 unpaid property tax balance was paid in full by them and now we need to either repay it in full or choose a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 year payment option. we will also be automatically put into escrow until the tax balance is repaid. *** i understand this was our fault for falling behind. we struggled about 7 months after the purchase w/ getting our finances in line and we were just beginning to get on track weeks before getting this letter....which arrived w/out any warning from CW.

September 2008 - 1st payment made w/ the additional $400 built in. our $987/month principal and interest included the $275 tax escrow, $90 installment on the taxes, and $30 of interest on it. This increase was a severe blow to our budget and i was amazed we did it for several months

January 2009 - 1st time we EVER missed a payment to CW. we were unable to produce enough income for the payment and we were 30 days past due.

February 24, 2009 - call placed to home retention dept @ CW. Explained our situation to cust serv rep. Explained in addition to everything, our son now 13 months old needed a surgery that would rebuild his forehead and we would be off of work for a few weeks and the bills would be immense.
*** the rep told us to fax 2 recent pay stubs and bank statements, and a letter of explanation to their workout dept for review. i asked if my payments were suspended while they reviewed our account and they said yes. Finally, he said we would receive a phone call 7-20 business days after they received the docs they needed.

March 17, 2009 - Materials faxed to CW (3 weeks from initial contact)

Mid April 2009 (either the 14th or 21st) - I called CW for an update because i had not received ANY contact from them. I was told my account was still in a review status and the latest they expected to be finished was Friday May 8, 2009. She could provide absolutely no info besides that.

May 8, 2009 - No communication from CW

May 11, 2009 - I contacted CW again asking for an update. a cust serv rep named Jennifer informed me that my account was actually not in any review status, and that it was in a "special forebearance status." - basically, i was now in a 90 day freeze where no payments were due but i had an outstanding balance of about $11,500!! She informed me the 90 days was up on May 26, 2009 and i would be contacted shortly after by a negotiator who would try to work something out with us if possible. This was a VERY VERY VERY frustrating call and a big slap in the face.

May 23, 2009 - Bank of America home loans sends me a statement showing i have missed 2-3 tax repayments and i have a total balance due of around $280. Not only was this out of nowhere but we have received no correspondance from BoA up to now, and then we get a statement.


*** This is all very stressful and hard, and i feel like CW is making up the rules and details as they go along. there has been absolutely no consistency on their part and i ultimately feel like we will be foreclosed on our home or at the very least put in a TERRIBLE position because of them being unorganized/crooked/etc etc etc.

to make things worse, we HAD about $6000 in savings for whatever the CW outcome was, but that has been reduced to well over half because of hospital and hotel stays, and time missed from work.

i feel like we have an awful situation and all we want is the terms of the loan to be restructured so we can be good customers, make our payments, and stay in our home. the arm doesn't adjust for a few more months, but it will only get worse when that happens. our credit will not qualify us to refi for years...

thank you for any advice you have to offer.

[gray517]

mks2008

if this is the only home you own, you may want to use the services of Naca, they are a non-profit hud approved agency, their services are free and they have helped many members on this forum including us. They have a 10 step online submission of information, then you get an id number and can printout a fax cover sheet and your authorization which you fax to them with
1. current mortgage statement
2. property tax bill
3. homeowners insurance declaration page
4. 30 days paystubs
then you schedule a phone counseling session (you should actually schedule 3 appt times), they will go over your income and expenses with you and come up with a restructure/modification solution and submit to Countrywide/BOA for you. The website talks about a workshop but it has not been updated and you do not need to attend a workshop or do your counseling in person, it can all be done over the phone.

this is where you start the process:

https://www.naca.com/refinance/refin....jsp?menu=refi



here is more info on thier process, again you do not need to attend a workshop or in person counseling. you do the online submission then a phone appointment:

https://www.naca.com/refinance/refin...?language=null

[mks2008]

Just curious, what is CW's stance in loan mods? do they want to do whatever is necessary to keep customers in homes and paying, or will they only budge if their arm is twisted enough?

[Confused!]

Well, I haven't been successful in getting my loan modified through Making Home Affordable yet. They aren't exactly forthcoming with information or helpful in the process. That is just my experience though, maybe I am not talking to the right people there. All I can say at this point is that I am beginning to lose hope that I will get this resolved before I lose my home.

[HereinNY]

I feel the same way...Making home affordable doesnt seem to be working for many of us.

[mks2008]

this whole process i think is literally making me sick...

after 5/26/09 passed i heard nothing from BoA or CW for 2 weeks so i finally called them. basically our mod was rejected on 5/28/09 (hey, awesome communication, thanks for the heads up losers). a CSR named Jesse told me the next step is to figure out what we can pay back and try to work out something to get us back on track. i asked about trying a loan mod again, and we would need to review our budget, etc to see if we qualify for "one of their plans".

so i have spent the last 5 or so days thinking about where to go next. with the AWFUL communication and multiple instances of conflicting info, part of me wants to bypass NACA and CW completely and write to the suits @ BoA as well as my state politicians, while another part of me thinks i should play it a little safer and work with NACA. We haven't made a payment yet in 2009, we have only about $2000 saved (the rest went to my son's surgery, overnight stays, etc).

anyone have some GOOD advice for me? the only thing pulling me the NACA direction is that they will put together a package for me to present to CW. neither my wife or i are unemployed, we make decent money, but our situation in general has us over our heads as it stands. WHAT SHOULD WE DO???

[sarge]

mks2008,

I would refer you to post #2 in this thread by gray517. NACA will work for you and on your behalf with BofA to get you a better deal. There are many frustrating stories in this forum of dealing with those jerks. It will take a while but take that step and get started.

[cobra]

MKS;

You WILL make yourself sick trying to do this on your own. Many of us on this forum have tried and finally went to NACA. It is your decision but CW/BoA is going thru a lot of re-organizational pains and you'll likely get 10 different answers from 10 different people. They will have you running in circles. And who knows what kind of mod they will offer you. With NACA it is simple. They'll propose a mod that your budget can live with for the life of the loan.

Do some more reading here and on the NACA home save site and then decide.
I'd urge you to strongly consider NACA. There is no cost to you at all.

Keep us posted here.

Cobra....NACA loan mod 5/29/09

[rozuki]

ditto what Cobra, Sarge and Gray517 say!

Gray517 has given great instructions to follow for what you will need when contacting NACA.

i am also CW customer who spent 5 months unsuccessfully chasing a decent loan mod. Then I found out about NACA from others on this forum. All i can say is ....thank God I did.

Good Luck!

~Rozuki - NACA loan mod approved 6/10

[helpsavemyhome]

Speaking from experience, if you deal with CW/BoA on your own, you will get nowhere. They will tell you excuse after excuse as to why you do not qualify for any programs. They told me I didn't qualify for anything and blamed it on the investor of my loan. Come to find out, I have one of the most lenient investors (Bank of New York). If you go thru NACA, you will at least have a good chance.

[mks2008]

well, i filled it all out tonight. hopefully this works out for us. not sure on everyone's religious views, but i have been asking God for help for a long time. before my post a few days ago, i asked again, and your responses were all there for NACA...please let this work...

what are the documents i need to submit though? i didn't see where it listed what i need to submit for my appt, which is less than 2 days from now.

[helpsavemyhome]

I had to submit paystubs, bank statements, homeowners insurance policy, hardship letter, homeowners association summary, the papers that we signed when we closed on the loan, property tax statement. I think that's just about it.

Good luck to you!

[gray517]

mks2008

look back at my post above it will give you more details, we have had 2 successful mods thru Naca and all we ever had to send was the following docs (see below) they may ask for more if you are self employed but this list will get you started (I do not recommend sending bank statements unless they ask for them specifically, that way you don't have to explain any non-payroll deposits or any other things in your bank statements) and when you talk with your counselor they will let you know if you need to send anything else. It also helps to write down your expenses for auto, insurance, utilites, food medical etc so you have them handy when you are going over your information with a counselor

1. current mortgage statement
2. property tax bill
3. homeowners insurance declaration page
4. 30 days paystubs

then you schedule a phone counseling session (you should actually schedule 3 appt times), they will go over your income and expenses with you and come up with a restructure/modification solution and submit to Countrywide/BOA for you. The website talks about a workshop but it has not been updated and you do not need to attend a workshop or do your counseling in person, it can all be done over the phone. Good Luck!

[mks2008]

you guys all rock...what a great resource LoanSafe is.

[mks2008]

everything i was requested to fax was faxed. they were supposed to call @ noon today and it is now 12:20. what happens if i don't receive any contact from them?

i just feel sick right now. not to be too terribly dramatic and negative, but i really haven't been able to catch a break for a long time and i am not feeling like NACA will change my fortune. i realize i should be more optimistic about life, but its just been a LONG chain of bad luck and setbacks for my family.

i feel like they will say we make too much, or that we have brought this on ourselves to an extent, or who knows what else. all i know for sure is that before we fell behind we had cut back on just about everything we could, and we still cleared all our bills by less than $100 each month....and that was after advancing money through US Bank's checking account advance program (up to $500/week w/ $10 interest per $100 advanced). we aren't asking for thousands of dollars to be trimmed off our loan, we just want a better, fixed rate so that we can began the financial healing process.

any words of encouragement are more than welcome. this whole process makes me feel like loan mods were only designed for the top 10% of the most extreme situations.

[sarge]

mks,

Don't sweat the fact that they haven't called. They were over an hour late on my second. They have missed some as well for others.

[gray517]

This has happened me and to others and they have also been late on calls, the reason is the previous appointment before yours took much longer than anticipated, that is why I recommend making at least 3 appointments when you schedule them in case 1 is missed. You should go back online and schedule more appointments. Also the time zone is an issue, depending on where you live, Naca is on east time zone so if your appointment is 12 thier time you would need to calculate your actual time from that.

[mks2008]

thanks for the responses guys. Tawana called me about 5 minutes after posting and she was great. went through a ton of questions to verify my bills, personal info, etc. she is having me send some more docs in and my next phone appt is monday night....so, a 2nd phone interview must be a good thing.

[sarge]

Glad they called mks,

Unless you are self employed or have some unusual circumstances, they will usually submit in 2 or 3 appointments. Good luck and keep us posted.

[mks2008]

had my 2nd consult last night. it seems the 1st call last Thursday was to verify basic personal info and to double check all of our expenses. the 2nd one last night was to go over work history and some debts. i have a few more items to fax into them, and i have another call this Thursday.

i will give them credit....both people have been incredibly nice on the phone and i have received calls from them in a timely manner, unlike some other experiences i've seem around here. hopefully Thursday night's call will be my final consult before they submit a package to BoA for me. the guy on the phone praised how thorough all my fax packages have been and he said some people send incomplete sets of documents, or are missing things, etc. i cannot believe if you are trying to restructure your home loan as a last resort that you wouldn't do everything possible to make things go as smoothly as possible...

anyway, i definitely feel less stressed when working w/ NACA because i feel they are on my side and representing me, and they will present a package to BoA that will hopefully have some appealing #'s that show we qualify for a mod.

[rozuki]

You have saved yourself lots of aggravation by going with NACA!
Good Luck, mks2008!

[mks2008]

quick note:

got a call from NACA tonight for my 3rd appt. the guy was obviously experienced @ this and apologized for them sending me the wrong docs for member authorization. he said he would personally call me for my next appt and told me i needed to send our BK discharge papers, another check stub, the signed authorization forms, and an updated hardship letter.

anyone else have to update their letter? he says it should reflect one main reason our situation went south, and what we are doing to solve it, and not just "bail us out or else" - my words, not his.

otherwise, he was awesome. i didn't catch his name because my son was crying when they called, but he tells me if i submit these things by next monday's appt, my package will be submitted either that night or the next day.

i'm excited and CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. hopefully with luck and God's grace we can finally make some headway in our lives

[2much2pay]

O my... I was typing and I don't know what happened to what I was writing...

mks.. keep your head up. We have to think positive and believe that there is help out there. I just joined NACA and in the process of completing my file for submission. I am one of those peoples that send incomplete documents (ooops). I faxed my property tax without checking it when I printed it. The tax amount portion was chopped off and then I had to schedule another appointment to make sure they received it. Then when they called they said they were missing a paystub for my husband and I needed to fax that in. I skipped a week of stubs. After that....another guy calls me and says that stub is no good cause its passed 30 days. We need last weeks stub and your current paystub because you get paid this week. This has now been a two week process of making sure all my docs are in and correct. They haven't been on time with their appointments. They were actually 2 hours late today. I had an appointment at 12pm but they called at 2:20pm. So you're not alone....I do agree with you about how nice the counselors are. I enjoy speaking to them...they give me hope. The funny thing is... they are like 15 minutes from me!!! And Barbs office is 10 minutes away!!! All this time I had help down the street and I've been dealing with BofA! Its crazy the way things are turning out. I never knew about them until I called CW back in Feb. trying to get a mod. They denied me for a mod but the rep told me to try NACA. I asked her what that was and she was telling me they help people save their homes and its free. It didn't click in my brain until I found Loansafe and read all the success stories. I was still skeptic about joining cause of the workshop. Then I read that you don't have to sign up for the workshop. Don't get me wrong... I would love to help someone else in return but my schedule is so tight I can't even make it to work. This is what got me in this position the first place. I may not be in the situation most people are facing but I do have a hardship. I don't have a predatory loan. (I think) I'm on a fixed rate but just having trouble paying it. Hopefully all will work out for the best.....wishing you and I success in the upcoming weeks. GOOD LUCK!!!

[mks2008]

4th and final call was SUPPOSED to happen tonight and the file submission was going to follow. i faxed all the things they asked for and didn't receive any call. i left them a VM and i may email them too just to be sure. i am getting really nervous, as July is approaching and i was told by NACA that they haven't contacted BoA to inform them i'm working w/ them...they wait and send one big package at once to be reviewed. hopefully tomorrow they get it all together and submitted...

[2much2pay]

I have always emailed them and get a call within 10 minutes. It could be a coincidence but it's happened twice. I suggest you try emailing them next time and tell them you didn't get a call. I was submitted yesterday....GOOD LUCK