Citi Mod not including taxes plus need to answer foreclosure

[Citigal]

First of all, thank you for this board. I submitted my initial request for assistance on 12/23 and did not receive a response. I found this board and the Citi contact info and sent an email. I received immediate assistance and had to resend my info b/c the original request was either lost or ignored. We finally got the terms of the mod but also were served with foreclosure docs. It took them two weeks to send the mod which put us at the deadline for responding to the foreclosure (now). The mod shows taxes and/or insurance excrow to be less than the taxes and ins we owe. I read on the FAQs of the government's "Making Home Affordable" site that the taxes and insurance are to be included in the payment (which is supposed to be 31% of your gross mth income) even if this was not done in your prior loan. Our ins was previously escrowed but we paid our taxes of approx $2,100/year. Can Citi do this. It seems coincidental that we are served with foreclosure and get the mod right when we have to answer so that we feel pressured into signing it. We did not include our taxes in our monthly expenses b/c we thought the taxes would be included in our payment. That's $175/mth additional expenses which would impact our payment amount.

[Moe Bedard]

Hi Citigal,


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

Since receiving the docs, have you contacted the executive team again and asked about the escrows and the questions that you have on the modification payments not being at the 31%, and what had they said? They should be able to help clarify the modification terms with you, and also to let you know if the modification had been done under the MHA guidelines or Citi's guidelines for a different program, which would depend on the investor on your loan...........
1-866-255-3901

[Citigal]

Thank you *** and I did contact them upon receipt last Friday. I was told to sign the docs and return them and was given a very shaky reassurance that everything would be taken care of once the taxes were determined. I was told to hold out the money each month to pay the taxes and then the escrow would be adjusted upon their confirmation of the taxes. I just don't feel comfortable signing the mod the way it is. I have drafted an Answer to the Complaint and will hire an attorney to look everything over.

[Moe Bedard]

Having an attorney look it over before signing, is a good idea........

If you were not escrowed for taxes before, they would need to do an escrow analysis to date to set up that account..............so the escrows will show separately on the mortgage statements.

[Citigal]

Thank you ***. I spoke to another rep at the executive team who said that the mod was not per MHA but another program. He said that they would have looked at MHA first and then a secondary program. He said the secondary program gave us more flexibility. He recommended that we sign the mod and send it back so the offer does not expire (before 5/14) and then they will address the taxes issue and add that into our payment which puts our payment right back at what it was before??? Is Citi able to choose which program they want to use?

[Moe Bedard]

It wouldn't be Citi...........it would be the investor on the loan and what they are willing to do.............
but if the payment is going to revert back to what is causing the hardship struggle in the first place............you need to tell them this and ask what other options there are on your loan..........and also if they have anything similar to the MHA program.

Since you had submitted your information back in Dec. when the program was only released by Citi at the end of this April...........see if they will let you apply using the MHA program guidelines............unless the investor on your loan is not participating or you do not meet the criteria in some way.......
you can check eligibility here.......
http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/...estimator.html

CitiMortgage
1-866-255-3901

[Marshall Rosenbach Esq.]

Citigal - your lender is not interested in making your life miserable. I'm sure two different departments were working without knowledge of the other. The foreclosure dept. probably had the lawsuit served close in time to the mod offer. Remember, even though a mod is being considered, the foreclosure will press forward....so that is why that has happened. If I were you, I would put in writing your problem with the escrow....that way it is documented...First call and confirm that the terms of the modified loan (interest rate, type, term, new balance) are set, but that the escrow will adjust according to what is correct. If they tell you that again, put it in writing and send them the confirmation. In the meantime, I would file an answer like you are doing just to take care of that issue, and then focus on getting the escrow #s straightened out.

[Marshall Rosenbach Esq.]

Oh Citigal, one more thing...no harm in asking your negotiator to give you additional time to accept the mod. We ask for this all the time when the lender sends out a modification 2 weeks after it is dated and so my client has no time to consider it and sign. They should give you an additional week to consider it and accept.