3 Month Trial Period In Progress

[stamber]

Just wanted to start a fresh forum in regards to our current loan mod situation with BofA (Previously Countrywide). I've been reading a lot of threads in regards to similar situations. However, my wife and I are working directly with BofA. We received the famous FEDEX package with a 3 month trial period plan. It's for our first (most delinquent) loan. Payments after the 2 year interest rate was adjusted were approximately $1,800. We just submitted our package and first trial period payment ($1,215) last week. I would be interested in hearing what others have been experienced. What should I be looking for? How should I be proactive in making sure things go smooth? Thank you Loansafe.org for this website. It appears as though it has been a tremendous help for myself and others. Thank you in advance for your responses.

[Evan Bedard]

Hi stamber welcome and thank you for joining the forum.

There are many homeowners here that are currently going through this trial period and I'm sure one of them will chime in soon

Also yes please be as proactive as possible throughout the process to make sure nothing slips through the cracks..

[John12333]

I got a phone call today from BofA that they will give me 3 month forbearance since I haven't missed my payment. After that point, i'll be delinquent and they will try to work on the loan modification. Did you get the same offer?

[Garry]

Originally Posted by stamber

Just wanted to start a fresh forum in regards to our current loan mod situation with BofA (Previously Countrywide). I've been reading a lot of threads in regards to similar situations. However, my wife and I are working directly with BofA. We received the famous FEDEX package with a 3 month trial period plan. It's for our first (most delinquent) loan. Payments after the 2 year interest rate was adjusted were approximately $1,800. We just submitted our package and first trial period payment ($1,215) last week. I would be interested in hearing what others have been experienced. What should I be looking for? How should I be proactive in making sure things go smooth? Thank you Loansafe.org for this website. It appears as though it has been a tremendous help for myself and others. Thank you in advance for your responses.

I received my Fed-Ex package in mid July out of the blue after being denied countless times over the phone. Sent it back and made my first payment on July 22nd, the problem I'm having now is that they requested more info to be faxed to them and they keep losing it. So far I've faxed it five times, once on the 22nd and 4 times a couple of days ago including one directly from the bank. They are still saying the same thing, call back in a couple days. I talked to them today and expressed the fact that I was worried about my mod being breached because my fax keeps getting lost and I was told not to worry about it, they are just over-whelmed.

[Garry]

Originally Posted by John12333

I got a phone call today from BofA that they will give me 3 month forbearance since I haven't missed my payment. After that point, i'll be delinquent and they will try to work on the loan modification. Did you get the same offer?

I couldn't get any help at all from BofA until I stopped making payments and they set a date to sell my house.

[focus beyond]

Heads- Up everyone in regard to thinking the lenders are on your side when it comes to offering a 3 or 4 month "trial" repayment plan. Right now as of the last 6 months we have assisted a number of homeowners to do this and encouraged them to accept these payment plans.

They seemed to fit within the needed payment range for the homeowners, we always encourage the homeowner to do what they think is best for themselves. The payment plans seem/ed reasonable and affordable and the homeowners went for them.

Now we are finding the lenders; i.e. Indymac, CW, Chase are all rescinding their offers by saying the homeowner "must" pay the balloon payment, which is the last of the payments on the schedule or else they can not honor the agreement to put in place a "long term" modification.

Now, in the beginning when the "trial" plan was set up everyone was told the balloon payment was merely a formality and that they "know no one can come up with that amount of money" but it "just needs to be there for their accounting purposes in order to make the trial plan work and get approved" but "not to worry, because at that point, you just don't make that payment and they re-enter into a new and long term agreement, based on the fact you were responsible in making the trial payments, and everything will be just fine as long as nothing material has changed"; for example loss of income, etc.

Well, now people are finding themselves, once again cheated, and lied to and misled and having made payments for nothing. The banks are willing to proceed with foreclosing and taking the property back, with a total and blatant disregard to what they originally offered.

Only one lender we have worked with over the last 6 months that made a "trial plan" offer has stuck to their word, and that is Saline Mortgage. All the rest are lying and hurting families.

So, beware of what you are agreeing to and make sure that you are not signing away any rights to go after them in a lawsuit if you agree to a "trial" plan.

Some attorneys are now becoming aware of this and starting to warn homeowners, but the only recourse, it seems, is to engage in a legal battle to hold them off based on breach of contract, bait and switch, wrongful foreclosure, etc.

Be careful out there - it's worse than the wild west!

[Garry]

Originally Posted by focus beyond

Heads- Up everyone in regard to thinking the lenders are on your side when it comes to offering a 3 or 4 month "trial" repayment plan. Right now as of the last 6 months we have assisted a number of homeowners to do this and encouraged them to accept these payment plans.

They seemed to fit within the needed payment range for the homeowners, we always encourage the homeowner to do what they think is best for themselves. The payment plans seem/ed reasonable and affordable and the homeowners went for them.

Now we are finding the lenders; i.e. Indymac, CW, Chase are all rescinding their offers by saying the homeowner "must" pay the balloon payment, which is the last of the payments on the schedule or else they can not honor the agreement to put in place a "long term" modification.

Now, in the beginning when the "trial" plan was set up everyone was told the balloon payment was merely a formality and that they "know no one can come up with that amount of money" but it "just needs to be there for their accounting purposes in order to make the trial plan work and get approved" but "not to worry, because at that point, you just don't make that payment and they re-enter into a new and long term agreement, based on the fact you were responsible in making the trial payments, and everything will be just fine as long as nothing material has changed"; for example loss of income, etc.

Well, now people are finding themselves, once again cheated, and lied to and misled and having made payments for nothing. The banks are willing to proceed with foreclosing and taking the property back, with a total and blatant disregard to what they originally offered.

Only one lender we have worked with over the last 6 months that made a "trial plan" offer has stuck to their word, and that is Saline Mortgage. All the rest are lying and hurting families.

So, beware of what you are agreeing to and make sure that you are not signing away any rights to go after them in a lawsuit if you agree to a "trial" plan.

Some attorneys are now becoming aware of this and starting to warn homeowners, but the only recourse, it seems, is to engage in a legal battle to hold them off based on breach of contract, bait and switch, wrongful foreclosure, etc.

Be careful out there - it's worse than the wild west!

Most of what you are saying is not true, there is no balloon payment with the MHA program. What is your intent behind this post?

[dthom]

We make our first payment Nov. 1 on the MHA trial period. Sent in our packet and requested info, received by BofA on 10/3.
Got a call today, rep from retention was going over addtional info they wanted. She was surprised that all but 3 items were already there, she was requesting they please review again as info has already been provided. In additon, I now need 2 months bank statements, date electronically filed 2008 tax return( my error) and here is the big one. Husband was told to get a letter from Michigan Unemployment to verify he has 9 months of unemployment benefits left,with an EXACT date they will end. State of Michigan sent him a form letter that details how many weeks of each extention he has left, but did not give exact date his last extension would end, as it has to do with Federal funds and is tied to the unemployment rate. Well seems they wont accept that. Husband now has to write a letter of "self certification" of unemployment benefts and to try to get hold of unemployment to see if they can send him anything that will give a precise ending date of his benefits.
Without unemployment they will only use my income,which will not get us the modification. But I am expected to still pay the 3 trial payments, and if it doesn't get accepted the rep said, we can go from there and see what is available for you. Yeah right, Can you say foreclosure?

So thus far, this is our experience with MHA. Just when we thought everything was good, back to worrying again. If and I mean If we get approved our first permanent payment would be on Feb 1,2010.

[focus beyond]

garry - understand my comments here are to help those coming to this forum to see that it's not safe out there dealing with any lender. those that think it is are certainly uneducated or inexperienced.

it is my intent to offer some food for thought and to be helpful, not hurtful - i am not the enemy, the lenders are!

my comments are all true, despite your comment "Most of what you are saying is not true, there is no balloon payment with the MHA program." but, please note the topic of this thread "3 month Trial Period...." not "MHA program".

when it comes to a generic "trial plan" that lenders are offering, i know first hand that homeowners need to really pay attention, this is no joke!

secondly, the MHA does make provision for a "balloon" payment and is found in the section: Home Affordable Modification item #11 - but pertains specifically to a forbearance. but, i was not commenting on this in my original post.

hope this helps some folk - which is what we all need to be doing for one another, helping! cause the lenders and this government certainly isn't!

[j-nice]

Focus Beyond-I don't want to sound like I am coming off as being rude but can you please explain why you have been a member of Loansafe since February 2008 and you are JUST now posting???

[focus beyond]

j - merely because i have been swamped over the last 3 years working in this crazy industry trying all we can do to help folk and not available to be here posting - simply a matter of being too too busy is all.

i have come and gone, back and forth over that time reading different posts here and there, but just never [quite honestly] took the time to offer any comments, again only because we have been on the fly -

but, a worthy question, indeed.

[Tartbird]

It's funny everyone seems so suspicious of what focus beyond is saying and seem a little hostile. What he/she is saying only confirms what I personally feel is happening and could happen. There are these three month forbearances out there that NACA etc has gotten people and at the end of it the paperwork does in fact say something about having to come up with some giant amount of money. But when you question the CW people they say oh we will just reapply and don't worry about that little thing on the paperwork that you are SIGNING! (By the way David L. was one of the people who told me not to worry about it, and now he is long gone isn't he?)

Tartbird

[j-nice]

Tartbird-I totally agree with you, I am in the same bunch of forbearance agreements which David said was just a trial period to see if you can handle the payment. The only hope I am hanging onto is Sandyg's story...she was on a 3 month forbearance and got a permanent solution at the STD(naca) event last week...we can only keep hoping.

[Garry]

Originally Posted by focus beyond

garry - understand my comments here are to help those coming to this forum to see that it's not safe out there dealing with any lender. those that think it is are certainly uneducated or inexperienced.

it is my intent to offer some food for thought and to be helpful, not hurtful - i am not the enemy, the lenders are!

my comments are all true, despite your comment "Most of what you are saying is not true, there is no balloon payment with the MHA program." but, please note the topic of this thread "3 month Trial Period...." not "MHA program".

when it comes to a generic "trial plan" that lenders are offering, i know first hand that homeowners need to really pay attention, this is no joke!

secondly, the MHA does make provision for a "balloon" payment and is found in the section: Home Affordable Modification item #11 - but pertains specifically to a forbearance. but, i was not commenting on this in my original post.

hope this helps some folk - which is what we all need to be doing for one another, helping! cause the lenders and this government certainly isn't!

I understand what you are saying, but I have to dis-agree again. The Gov is helping, just not to your liking.

[Tartbird]

J-nice, I am not saying give up hope, but I just think focus beyond is just saying what most of us who are being offered these 3 month forbearances are already suspicious of happening.

I am praying you are one of the lucky ones!

It just seems like even if you do get offered the mod after the three/four month thing they keep dragging their feet and screwing up the paperwork!

Fannie offered us a three month forbearance and CW/BofA sent the paperwork wrong and now I can't for the LIFE OF ME get those idiots to send me the corrected paperwork! But somehow they find the time and energy to keep sending me letters saying "We havent' received your special forbearance payment yet, you need to pay this in a timely manner or we can't help you blah blah blah!" HOW DO I SEND A PAYMENT WHEN I HAVEN'T RECEIVED OR SIGNED THE PROPER PAPERWORK YET?!!!

Tartbird

[BobandArlyn]

Our Trial Mod Paperwork from Chase:

OK:

1. First page states..."YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR A TRIAL MODIFICATION PLAN"??? Then attaches the Trial Modification Plan.

2. In the cover letter, it states three times that the signed trial modification plan and first payment due to Lender no later than 10/18/09. First trial payment starts 11/1/09. HOWEVER, in the Trial Plan it states the first payment and signed modification plan is due to the Lender no later than 11/1/09!!!

3. In the Trial Modification Plan it asks Bob to agree to the fact that if the signed Trial Modification Plan is not received by Bob from the Lender that the Trial Modification has not been completed. You guys talked about that but just didn't really want to believe it until I read it in the paperwork.

4. Also, received 4 payment coupons instead of 3. What a shock! ;-)


I've sent several questions of clarification to Chase negotiator and her boss regarding the above asking for confirmation of receipt of this email and clarification in writing by email.

WONDERING...Do you think Bob can 'sign under protest' next to #3 above?? mmmm?

Arlyn

[focus beyond]

tartbird - appreciate the support and some truthful spoken words.

i don't know about this david but i do know that no matter who it is that is offering any advise to "trust" a lender, please be cautious of!

that's not to say we can, at times, get some love from these criminals - that does happen on occassion and when it does, it's truly cause to celebrate because it does offer a homeowner that breath of fresh air that is so desperately being yearned for -

j-nice i would hope and pray for you that you as tartbird has mentioned is one of the fortunate ones and it works out for you, that would be awesome.

i've been around this industry since the mid 70's and have seen a lot of stuff happening - and these days it's appalling what is going on, more than ever before!

just stay as gentle as a dove, but as wise as a serpent as any of you work with these lenders, do not take anything for granted and stay in direct communication with your lender, do not ever relinquish that communication to anyone, not even an attorney!

[Garry]

We are not enemy Focus, I do understand what you are saying.

[ama125]

focus beyond - I just came across this thread and from your choice of words, you sound like someone assisting homeowners in trying to get help. Do you work for a mortgage servicer, hud office, or some other agency or are you another homeowner looking for a modification? I appreciate what you are posting. I would be highly skeptical of any paperwork mentioning a balloon payment no matter what someone over the phone says. If a balloon payment was something to be ignored, than why mention it at all? Sometimes, it is the only thing that can be offered and so it is or was. It is not uncommon for the lender/servicer to not fully understand what they are offering with these forbearance agreements and so, even if not intended to be misleading, the information given out may indeed be false. A lie is an intentional action and I feel a lot of the reps are just not adequately trained and may not actually intend to mislead anyone when in fact they are and don't even realize it. What would you advise one to do if offered a forbearance with a balloon payment when this may be the only alternative to foreclosure? Are you implying that a forbearance of this kind is merely collecting the money and will ultimately wind up going to foreclosure anyway if the person cannot come up with the balloon amount? And everyone should not confuse MHA trial with forbearance agreement. They are not one and the same. Thank you again for posting your insight into what you have experienced with these situations.

[focus beyond]

garry - not sure at what point in time we can all stand up and give a shout out to the government for helping, but so far it's been WEAK at best - they are merely stalling and not stepping up to the plate to resolve things for so many innocent by-standers, i.e. most homeowners!

i've learned in my life not to mince my words, and call a spade a spade - how can anyone in their right mind, after doing some, even basic, research think the government is really helping? not trying to take sides for either party, it just is what it is......

and oh BTW, the lender(s) are the enemy! and what is so sad is that many people are still hanging onto such false hope - please don't get me wrong, i'm all for the lenders and the government to step up to the plate and really help homeowners, but i'm just not seeing it happen out there allbeit maybe on a one-sy two-sy basis but families are bleeding to death out there, and the lenders and the government are not reacting to the need fast enough - meanwhile there is more collateral damage and carnage along the roadside! will they ever stop this nonsense and HELP families to the tune of "thinking outside the box" and keeping families in their homes? unfortunately, i think not!

let me say we were hoping for some legislation to pass that would allow a BK judge to cram-down the loan to help a deserving family some relief to stay in their home, and the government did not pass it - so much for all those families that can truly and honestly benefit from a "real" principal reduction! so what if the lender losses some, everyone is losing some -

so, again i say the lender is the enemy and the government is doing little to nothing to remedy this tragic catastrophe we are all living in these days -

wonder how it will all turn out -

[focus beyond]

ama125 - a question was asked of me earlier here today "why after having become a member back in 08 did i only have 1 post" and now today i think i've used up so much time in one day than i have in 2 years - wow! i think i opened up a can of worms, as least for myself, boy this is time consuming, no wonder i haven't done this before

anyway - no i am not affiliated with any lender or loan mod company - i just have been around many years in the loss mitigation field and legal field working with people that help homeowners as an advisor/consultant -

i do not get paid for my work or what i offer, fortunately i am able to do this and not demand or expect any sort of payment - a benefit to many i guess.

i love to help and assist people that need the kind of help we are discussing here in this forum - in the past several years i have [as i mentioned earlier] been very busy giving of my time and knowledge and seeing some families win and some loss, actually more win -

you ask some good questions; "If a balloon payment was something to be ignored, than why mention it at all?" ANSWER: because they [the lender/servicer/so-called mystery investor want as much money as they can get out of you, knowing all well that the statistics prove the homeowner(s) will undoubtedly go right back into default, so they need to squeeze as much from the homeowner as they can, therefore they offer what they do, say the balloon is not going to be a problem, and the bingo! at the end of the day, they have extracted some money, in the tune of thousands of dollars (i guess depending on what part of the country one is domiciled) and they are happy.

you are being kind when you say "It is not uncommon for the lender/servicer to not fully understand what they are offering with these forbearance agreements and so, even if not intended to be misleading, the information given out may indeed be false." ANSWER: Shame on them! If they don't understand, how in the world will the homeowner (the unprofessional) understand - it's their job to understand or they should not be on the other end of the phone answering it and offering ANYTHING! which i believe you will agree with - if they offer "false" information they should be legally liable and should answer to a court of law via the homeowner filing a complaint/lawsuit against them. the lender(s) need to put trained people on the line so as to avoid any perception of deceit.

i totally agree with you about most of the reps that don't really know how the terms are going to work or effect the homeowner, but then again i say they should be careful then not to offer or say anything to the homeowner that can be misleading. it's really unfortunate, but a reality once again in how inept and negligent these lenders are and have been and continue to be.

get their people trained and give them something to offer someone -

you ask "What would you advise one to do if offered a forbearance with a balloon payment when this may be the only alternative to foreclosure?" ANSWER: search your heart - you and only you need to find peace with any decision you make regarding this matter. sometimes it's merely a logical and mathematical choice - remove the emotions if you can and make the very best choice for you and your family. understanding that if a homeowner picks this choice given them to avoid a foreclosure, don't be naive to believe the lender will hold true to their word and magically the homeowner will have a long term agreement that is suitable, be on your guard and have a "plan b" in place just in case the lender does end-run on you and shuts you down. be ready to accept the worse and the best will come! BTW i just may have an attorney do a once over on the paperwork, at least some attorney who is a fighter not a dump-truck who is sold out to the lenders or the system. they are far and few between -

you asked: "Are you implying that a forbearance of this kind is merely collecting the money and will ultimately wind up going to foreclosure anyway if the person cannot come up with the balloon amount?" ANSWER: exactly - at least in many cases, not all mind you - but "buyer beware" they are the ENEMY!

[focus beyond]

ama125 - a question was asked of me earlier here today "why after having become a member back in 08 did i only have 1 post" and now today i think i've used up so much time in one day than i have in 2 years - wow! i think i opened up a can of worms, as least for myself, boy this is time consuming, no wonder i haven't done this before

anyway - no i am not affiliated with any lender or loan mod company - i just have been around many years in the loss mitigation field and legal field working with people that help homeowners as an advisor/consultant -

i do not get paid for my work or what i offer, fortunately i am able to do this and not demand or expect any sort of payment - a benefit to many i guess.

i love to help and assist people that need the kind of help we are discussing here in this forum - in the past several years i have [as i mentioned earlier] been very busy giving of my time and knowledge and seeing some families win and some loss, actually more win -

you ask some good questions; "If a balloon payment was something to be ignored, than why mention it at all?" ANSWER: because they [the lender/servicer/so-called mystery investor want as much money as they can get out of you, knowing all well that the statistics prove the homeowner(s) will undoubtedly go right back into default, so they need to squeeze as much from the homeowner as they can, therefore they offer what they do, say the balloon is not going to be a problem, and the bingo! at the end of the day, they have extracted some money, in the tune of thousands of dollars (i guess depending on what part of the country one is domiciled) and they are happy.

you are being kind when you say "It is not uncommon for the lender/servicer to not fully understand what they are offering with these forbearance agreements and so, even if not intended to be misleading, the information given out may indeed be false." ANSWER: Shame on them! If they don't understand, how in the world will the homeowner (the unprofessional) understand - it's their job to understand or they should not be on the other end of the phone answering it and offering ANYTHING! which i believe you will agree with - if they offer "false" information they should be legally liable and should answer to a court of law via the homeowner filing a complaint/lawsuit against them. the lender(s) need to put trained people on the line so as to avoid any perception of deceit.

i totally agree with you about most of the reps that don't really know how the terms are going to work or effect the homeowner, but then again i say they should be careful then not to offer or say anything to the homeowner that can be misleading. it's really unfortunate, but a reality once again in how inept and negligent these lenders are and have been and continue to be.

get their people trained and give them something to offer someone -

you ask "What would you advise one to do if offered a forbearance with a balloon payment when this may be the only alternative to foreclosure?" ANSWER: search your heart - you and only you need to find peace with any decision you make regarding this matter. sometimes it's merely a logical and mathematical choice - remove the emotions if you can and make the very best choice for you and your family. understanding that if a homeowner picks this choice given them to avoid a foreclosure, don't be naive to believe the lender will hold true to their word and magically the homeowner will have a long term agreement that is suitable, be on your guard and have a "plan b" in place just in case the lender does end-run on you and shuts you down. be ready to accept the worse and the best will come! BTW i just may have an attorney do a once over on the paperwork, at least some attorney who is a fighter not a dump-truck who is sold out to the lenders or the system. they are far and few between -

you asked: "Are you implying that a forbearance of this kind is merely collecting the money and will ultimately wind up going to foreclosure anyway if the person cannot come up with the balloon amount?" ANSWER: exactly - at least in many cases, not all mind you - but "buyer beware" they are the ENEMY!

[Garry]

Originally Posted by focus beyond

garry - not sure at what point in time we can all stand up and give a shout out to the government for helping, but so far it's been WEAK at best - they are merely stalling and not stepping up to the plate to resolve things for so many innocent by-standers, i.e. most homeowners!

i've learned in my life not to mince my words, and call a spade a spade - how can anyone in their right mind, after doing some, even basic, research think the government is really helping? not trying to take sides for either party, it just is what it is......

and oh BTW, the lender(s) are the enemy! and what is so sad is that many people are still hanging onto such false hope - please don't get me wrong, I'm all for the lenders and the government to step up to the plate and really help homeowners, but I'm just not seeing it happen out there allbeit maybe on a one-sy two-sy basis but families are bleeding to death out there, and the lenders and the government are not reacting to the need fast enough - meanwhile there is more collateral damage and carnage along the roadside! will they ever stop this nonsense and HELP families to the tune of "thinking outside the box" and keeping families in their homes? unfortunately, i think not!

let me say we were hoping for some legislation to pass that would allow a BK judge to cram-down the loan to help a deserving family some relief to stay in their home, and the government did not pass it - so much for all those families that can truly and honestly benefit from a "real" principal reduction! so what if the lender losses some, everyone is losing some -

so, again i say the lender is the enemy and the government is doing little to nothing to remedy this tragic catastrophe we are all living in these days -

wonder how it will all turn out -

I agree help has been weak. Share a thought for your input, wouldn't it be better to put one party in total charge?

[focus beyond]

garry -yes i totally agree

[Garry]

Originally Posted by Garry

I agree help has been weak. Share a thought for your input, wouldn't it be better to put one party in total charge?

I'm getting the feeling they don't want a majority, no way to run for cover when they do the wrong thing, I'm thinking we should cram it down their throats.