Injured, subprime, and falling behind! HELP!

[D and J]

Hi all. This is my first post but I've been an occasional lurker for the last few weeks. I need some advice. I'm having a bit of trouble and I just don't know what to do next to keep my home out of foreclosure!

Here's the story: I lost my job. I'm a teacher in California so getting another position has been impossible. I had taken on some small work but I quickly blew through my savings and retirement making my house payments. I made my December payment and then got hit with a head injury! Now, with absolutely NO money coming in and an exhausted savings account (and medical bills), I am out of ways to come up with the cash for this month's house payment. I am actively seeking any work I can do but it's hard with the injury, so it's taking some time. Time is the one thing I don't have as I haven't made January's payment!

I have my first mortgage with CW. It's approximately $174,000 at 7.375% fixed. It's a subprime B an C type loan (I think that's what the guy on the phone said) and it does qualify for the special modifications CW is doing now but I DON'T qualify right now on the basis of my lack of income. I also have a HELOC with my local credit union maxed out at $110,000 but the current market value of my house couldn't be any higher than $180,000 right now! Also, my credit has been terrible for well over a decade so I know that's not going to help.

What I want is to buy myself and my family a little time until we get back on our feet. I absolutely want to keep my house and I will do anything I have to to keep me and my daughter in our home. The problem is that I must have half a dozen numbers to call, no idea what to tell them, no idea what to ask for, and I'm too afraid that someone will try to push me into the wrong thing and I'll miss or mess up any opportunities available to me (now or later) to save my home. I am paralyzed with indecision and I would be grateful for a hint of clarity. I don't know if there are any options open to someone in my position and I'm too scared to ask CW in case they make some note in my file after hearing my story and then refuse to work with me! I know I'm not 30 days behind yet, but this will escalate so quickly if I'm not careful! HELP PLEASE!

[schwefls]

Hi D and J welcome to our forum:

I wanted to stop in say hello and assure you, you are not alone. Someone will be reaching out to you with some sound advice/suggestions. In the interim please hang in there and know that we are here for you.

[D and J]

Thank you SO much! Even just knowing that this place exists gives me hope. It would be impossible to navigate through this stuff on my own. Your comfort is very welcome and much appreciated!

[Moe Bedard]

Hi D and J,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining............

Is there any household income at all? Are you going to be getting any type of disability for your injury?

[D and J]

Originally Posted by *** Damiano

Hi D and J,

Is there any household income at all? Are you going to be getting any type of disability for your injury?

I'm looking into disability. I believe I qualify. Even so, I have little reason to believe that disability will pay much more than $800 a month. Also, my daughter has been working part-time. She brings in $600 a month and that's our only income for January. She's dropped out of school this semester to take care of me and also to find full-time work. We're both actively looking.

The payment on my first with CW is $1,270. My HELOC with the Credit Union varies but has been roughly $450. Forgot to put that in my original post.

Thanks.

[D and J]

I'm sorry. I was completely misinformed about the $800 disability thing. I am looking into it right now. Thankfully, it should be a bit more than that! (Now, I just have to get my doctor to go along with it. He should though... just look at my head!) That would be a relief but I would still fall way short.

[Moe Bedard]

You will need the income for a modification which when you do get that coming in you may want to go through the process with NACA because they can help negotiate a low fixed rate loan modification with the investor on your loan through CW based on an affordability equation that they will use.....click on the link for the info..............

https://www.naca.com/refinance/refinanceTenStep.jsp


you can also contact NACA or CW and see if they may be able to help you with negotiating some sort of payment deferment of 2-3 months so that you can apply for NACA assistance as soon as you have the income......or let you start the process by asking if they will accept the disability as income.
NACA
1-888-302-6222

[D and J]

What about getting a forbearance with CW? I know someone out of state who did it when she had surgery for cancer. This isn't cancer but is that an option?

[Moe Bedard]

that is the payment deferment that I was referring to also called forbearance, that you should ask either NACA or CW for............what you would need to be careful of, is to be put into some sort of arrangement like that through CW and then not being able to apply for another workout for one year.......if you call CW and ask them if they can do that............you definately need to ask if you will be to apply for a modification immediately following the deferment/forbearance.

CW Home Retention
1-800-669-0102

[D and J]

Thank you, ***! That was exactly the warning I needed to hear.

Here's my game plan. Let me know if there's anything else I should know. Forewarned is forearmed!

Call CW and ask for a deferment.
Start work with NACA.
Make sure that any deferment arrangement does not disqualify me from any further deals or modifications over the next year.
Make sure I will be able to apply for a modification after the term of the forbearance.

(Just a point of interest, what's the possible length of a deferment? Is there anything I can do or say to urge CW in my favor?)

[D and J]

Just a thought... would filing for a deferment (not that I have much of a choice) hurt my chances of a modification later or even maybe refinancing with another company? I left a note on another thread about my neighbor. She went with a third party negotiator and got a new loan with a lower fixed rate AND a $120k principle reduction. Should I look into this? Should I be concerned?

[Moe Bedard]

I already answered you in the other thread and also stated that you will not be able to post names of companies on the forum...........what your neighbor received is what is called a short refinance and the investor on the original loan would need to agree to this.............so your neighbor had an investor that was willing to do this.


and the plan looks good..........

[D and J]

Thank you for your help, ***. You have no idea how appreciated it is! I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Thanks again!

[D and J]

Hello,

Back at the end of 2008, I had a debilitating accident. I was placed on disability and lost my job. I am recovering but I could not make my house payments during this time. I received a Special Forbearance from CW which expired on May 11th. At that time, I intended to apply for a loan modification to "add back in" the amount I owed and hopefully lower my interest rate. My loan is a Subprime B and C Type loan at 7.375% and according to everyone, I should qualify. My daughter (who is on title with me) is working full time now and between her income and my disability checks, we are making nearly what I had been making on my own when I qualified for the loan in the first place. Starting in June, we are officially financially back on our feet enough to make our payments again... although it's still hand to mouth with no savings.

So, here are my questions:

1. If our income together is what it was before my accident when I qualified for the loan originally, will that disqualify us from a loan mod?

2. The oh-so-helpful people at CW have told me that because I am 5 months behind (forbearance) they can foreclose on my house even while I am still being considered for a loan modification. Is this true? It doesn't make sense to me.

3. Finally, because I had been injured and lost my income, I am behind in my property taxes. Here's the dilemma. I can either begin making my mortgage payments to CW/BoA again immediately or I can pay my taxes. Because I live in a city with Mello Roos, the city is now threatening foreclosure because I am behind in the tax payments! Grrrr! Since I really want to just have my missed payments reworked into the loan and I'd like to start making my payments at the (hopefully) lower interest rate anyway, how important is it to make payments during the loan modification process, especially early on? I just applied three weeks ago but I am trying to save my home on two fronts, now. I will do whatever is necessary but I can only do so much.

My feeling is, I have the documented income so they should want to work with me. I hope this is true. Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[kateistired]

I don't think anyone really knows whether it is okay to make payments during modification process or not. You can only do what is best for your situation. I will tell you that in my case, we did not make payments to CW for 12 months. The last six months we were in review for modification. They did not move further to foreclose....some reps said they still could while in review, others said they would not.

I will tell you that they do not apply your payments directly to your mortgage while in review for a modification. They place them in a partial account and hold them there until a decision is reached.

Best of luck to you.
Kate

[D and J]

Thanks so much, Kate! That's really good to know.

[Evan Bedard]

Hi Kate/D and J,

From my personal experience since BofA completley took over CW they are not offering any assistance to borrowers that are current on their mortgage. When submitting your case to the lender if you are current and always make payments on time they feel that you are able to afford this payment and will deny any request for modification/repayment plan. I wish you all the best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress!

[D and J]

Hi Evan,

Yeah, when we were current but likely to fall behind, CW wouldn't do a thing for us. Now, we are 5 months behind and in review for a modification. Starting in June/July, though, we will be able to afford our payments again but I am really hoping for an interest reduction in addition to having the amount owed reworked into the loan. Since it looks like making payments during the modification process seems futile, it will be a considerable amount I'm hoping to have lumped back in. On the plus side, I'll be able to pay my taxes and put a few dollars away while I'm waiting.

(PS - Hi, Kate. Do you mind if I ask what happened after the 12 months? You really gave me hope!)

[Evan Bedard]

Hi D and J,


Sounds to me like everything is going good. If they do offer you a modification they will usually either put the delinquent amount on the back of the loan and/or make you pay some sort of upfront fee before the modification can be valid. That is perfect that you will have a little money saved up just in case.