Bank of America/Countrywide

[Downer63]

We bought our house in 2007 for $740,000 and within 6 months our house went down a lot! Currently the market value is at about $540,000. I recently got an approval of a loan modification with Countrywide on my own in late 2008. We paid the new modification loan on time for about 6 months. But due to the loss of my income....my husband and I can not afford the $3500 monthly payment. The last payment we made was in March 2009 for the first and for the second, we are behind about 8 months. I am in need of help. I received a letter from Jill Balentine, Senior Vice President of the Home Retention Division with BAC Home Loans Servicing LP. I hav been trying to call the 800 number on this letter 1-800-669-6650 and can not get through. When asked to enter our account number or social security number, it say so such number exist. I only have my old countrywide account number. Not a 10 digit bank of america account number. Please help.

[so-cal-gal]

I have 800-669-6607 as a customer service #. Perhaps they can help if you can get thru. It may be the same problem.

[hope67]

The home Retention phone number I use : 800-669-0102

Try this number, if you still get the same problem, try to click the "#"
key on your phone couple of times, in other words, everytime you are prompted to enter your account number or anything else for that matter, just hit the pound key "#" on your phone couple of times. Keep doing that until the system transfers you to a representative.

[so-cal-gal]

Or use customer service to obtain the current BofA account number.

[Downer63]

I was able to get through and have been talking with them regarding the Obama's HAMP program. My husband and I net income are at $10,000 but our gross is at $4000 and they are now telling me there is no program in there system for us. Acturally, everyday when I talk with different reps, one say, they have send an email to the Fast Track department to escalate my situation. Another told me, he has send an email to his supervisor to escalate the situation and another tells me there is no modifacation option for me. I see this to be impossible. I am stressed out now as our trustee sale is on October 28th...what are our options?

[so-cal-gal]

Originally Posted by Downer63

I was able to get through and have been talking with them regarding the Obama's HAMP program. My husband and I net income are at $10,000 but our gross is at $4000 and they are now telling me there is no program in there system for us. Acturally, everyday when I talk with different reps, one say, they have send an email to the Fast Track department to escalate my situation. Another told me, he has send an email to his supervisor to escalate the situation and another tells me there is no modifacation option for me. I see this to be impossible. I am stressed out now as our trustee sale is on October 28th...what are our options?

Well, one aspect that needs to be cleared up here is that the GROSS income is the total BEFORE anything is taken out.

Net is what you have AFTER withholding, SS tax and the like.

Did you just type it up here with the numbers 'flipped' or have you been giving them the WRONG data when they ask for your GROSS income?

If you gave them the wrong number for your gross income (Gross should be larger than net), they will not bother to correct you.

Is that $10K the gross income for a business? If not, I'm not sure how your net is so low. I presume that you are indeed self-employed. IF that is true, make sure they have the right information.

This may be a case where they are not willing to modify the loan payment down to the level that you need. Few cases of getting principal reduction have occurred.

Your balance on your first mortgage may be too high for some of the modification programs also. You do not state what that number is currently.

[pakca]

you can email Jill at: jill.balentine@bankofamerica.com
net income always less than gross.
my gross is $5000 a month and net income is $3770

i think Jill can help you. She got me loan modification last month.
hope this works out for you.

[Downer63]

Yes, I typed it wrong...our gross income is at $10,000 but our net is $4000. My first is currently $606,284 and my second is $84,000. The payment for the first is currently $3155 and the second is $375....My husband income was lowered and I lost my job....but recently started working. We want to save our home and need help....

[so-cal-gal]

Originally Posted by Downer63

Yes, I typed it wrong...our gross income is at $10,000 but our net is $4000. My first is currently $606,284 and my second is $84,000. The payment for the first is currently $3155 and the second is $375....My husband income was lowered and I lost my job....but recently started working. We want to save our home and need help....

Ok. You do realize they look to bring the payment down to 31% of your gross income. That would only take $55 off that first. They DO NOT lump the two loans together in the typical workout package. If you have some missed payments due to the job situation, you may be able to work out some 'catch-up' payment program if you can find a way to reduce the other payments in your budget.

If you have some really high debts for other things that are eating up so much of your income, you may need to see if a bankruptcy reorganization will solve your problem but let you keep the house. Certainly that may be a way to eliminate the second.

I don't see how you would qualify for a loan modification, other than for $55/month.

I do not know what you are including in the expenses that bring your 'net' income down to $4000 from the Gross income of $10000. It looks like you must have a good deal of other expenses. It appears the problem here is not that the mortgage is above the 'mark' compared to your income but that you have other expenses that are the problem. You need to find a way to negotiate those expenses (aside from current tax withholdings and the like).

[cjbory]

wow.. how can your gross be 60% off your net. There has to be something else going on there. Do you have child support or something like that been deducted from your paycheck.

[jakelabry]

Yeah, this does seem rather odd - max taxes and withholding is typically around 30-35%. Something is way off in this scenario!

[Downer63]

My husband is an owner operator of a diesel truck. He makes about $6000 gross a month and after all the expenses of running the truck, from diesel insurance, motor carrier taxes, etc.... his net is then aound $3000. I just recently took over a flower shop and my gross is $4000 but after all the expenses, flowers, supplies, pg&e, etc... my net is around $1500. We have credit cards aound $500 a month....

[so-cal-gal]

Originally Posted by Downer63

My husband is an owner operator of a diesel truck. He makes about $6000 gross a month and after all the expenses of running the truck, from diesel insurance, motor carrier taxes, etc.... his net is then aound $3000. I just recently took over a flower shop and my gross is $4000 but after all the expenses, flowers, supplies, pg&e, etc... my net is around $1500. We have credit cards aound $500 a month....

Ok, business owners, like I had suspected.

If they treat YOUR type of business like some others, they will ignore your ACTUAL expenses and figure your personal GROSS at 75% of the gross for the businesses. I don't know if this is uniform, regardless of TYPE of business or not. So that would put the PERSONAL 'gross' at approximately 7500. Then they would want to target your mortgage at 31% of that 7500.00 which is $2325.

You may not have been providing sufficient description of the situation for them to realize that you are SELF-EMPLOYED.

At this point, I think you need to have either NACA or HOPE represent you. I believe the HOPE counselors may be more likely to put you in for the HAMP program as the initial program they try for. From what I've seen on this forum, NACA tries for HAMP later and approaching BofA directly seems to have HAMP considered LAST.

Either way, YOU NEED TO ASK THEM TO ESCALATE your case since that Trustee sale date is already set. The HOPE program now allows people who have a real short fuse to be forwarded to an escalation team within HOPE the very same day the case is reported to HOPE. You need to get ahold of them immediately. If they get you put in for a modification, they should be able to get that foreclosure halted.

When you contact the HOPE counselors, you MUST tell them you are self-employed and that the 'GROSS' income figure you are supplying is the BUSINESS gross. They SHOULD reduce the PERSONAL GROSS and not take the full $10000 as your PERSONAL gross.

Make CERTAIN they are NOT using that $10000 figure as your PERSONAL gross income. I do not believe they will take off the full ACTUAL business expenses. I presume they treat most businesses the same, using that 75% number. The 'HOPE for HOMEOWNERS' counselors should know how to calculate what your 'personal' gross income should be considered to be. The phone number for them is on this forum and available on the web.

I hope $2325 will be a target for the modification of the first that you can live with and that you can obtain. Unless your first and second are both with CW, you will have to approach the holder of the second separately.

I DO see one other possibility but you would need to see an attorney PRONTO if this other situation is also possibly going on. When you say you had previously gotten a modification, did you ever get a signed-by-the-lender copy of the document? Most people NEVER did. Most of those modification contracts were never implemented so when you are looking at the payments that you DID make up until March, did the loan balance on the statement go down each month? Did the payment coupon match the modified loan contract?

If not, that earlier loan modification probably was never really implemented. In THAT case, you have a case of fraud that you can raise. If that is the case, the attorney should be able to file to stop the foreclosure on grounds of breach of contract and fraud. This is ONLY if your earlier mod contract was not REALLY implemented. Many of the modification contracts from that time-frame were "AG Mods". You would never have been told that the mod was never completed. They would have told you to continue to make the modified payments.

In either case, you have a VERY short fuse here. You need to act and act FAST. I would get on the phone with HOPE immediately.

If you can find a way to talk to an experienced CONTRACT Law or Real Estate Law attorney, do so, immediately.

[PhildVegas]

so-cal-gal,

You give the most informative, fact-laden responses. Just out of curiosity, are/were you part of the business?

I'm sending all future questions to you directly.

[Garry]

I agree, that was pretty good!

[so-cal-gal]

Originally Posted by PhildVegas

so-cal-gal,

You give the most informative, fact-laden responses. Just out of curiosity, are/were you part of the business?

I'm sending all future questions to you directly.

Many thanks for your comments! I would have to say this is/was not my actual business.

I'm a former Lead Software Engineer with over 30 years of progressive experience. Laid off in '06.

Concurrently a landlord from '88 on.

My work ranged from rapid-prototype where you had few, if any, written requirements, to full-blown, 'tons of paper' programs/systems. With the rapid-prototyping, you had to listen to the description, participate in discussions and take in all information that the program lead had available. Solutions went from white-board to a working prototype quickly.

The opposite end of the spectrum was the work on the huge shipboard systems. Reading government requirements documents, understanding them and designing software that satisfied the INTENDED requirements was my training ground. I obviously had to write documents also. Following the details of requirements specifications that stretched to many volumes, and pulling the details together in the software design and implementation is tedious work. Finding conflicting or unclear requirements and getting concise language inserted was always part of the task.