Looks like BofA success!!!

[Hillsdale]

Hi all,

wonderful forum, your experiences have helped me apply for the modification myself.

Here is my story and a couple of questions:

Bought the home in Sep 2007 in the Bay Area, at the top of the market (price-wise). Soon after that, the subprime crisis started, and everything went down the drain. I don't think our house was ever worth a dollar more then we payed for it.

Purchase price was $781 000.
1st mortgage for $625K, @6.875% ARM 7/23 I/O
2nd mortgage for $115K @9%

Both servicers are BofA, we put 5% down.

Recently we suffered loss of income, lost a couple of clients
(my husband has a software consulting business, where I am also employed).

We are current with our mortgage payments, but are struggling.

I tried calling, the 1-800 numbers, and as many of you know, they couldn't help me, since we were current.

Then I emailed the execs, with a version of a hardship letter, and actually got a call the next day! It was from a loss mitt. analyst in So. California. I gave her our financial info over the phone, she said she was going to put it in the computer and call me back. Our paycheck varies from month to month, so some months we are in deficit, and some months we have a small surplus.

An hour later (this is all happening last thursday Mar 12, and I emailed Mar 10), she calls me to tell me the mod is approved with the following terms:

1) extend the life of the loan for 9 months
2) will get a step rate: year 1 3.25%, year 2 3,75%, year 3 4.25%, and 5.25% the fourth year and to the term of the loan. Principal and interest, too!(that cut our payment by $700 the first year)
3) We should skip March and April payments.

Needless to say, I was over the moon, but then I couldn't believe my luck, since I read all your stories and know how long it took for most of the people here.

On Monday, I received the mod offer (4 pages), my husband and I signed, and returned on Tuesday. (to the Getzville, NY address)

Now we are waiting for the official document.

Questions:

1) I am going on a trip in two weeks, and if I am not here when the document arrives, is it OK to give power of attorney to my husband to sign for me?

2) Did any of you need to send any additional documents with that final letter (such as property tax, prop. insurance, etc)

3) When we skip March and April payments, how will they know that we are in the mod process and not post anything negative on our credit report?

update: I just received an official letter from the analyst cc'd to some VP where they say we have a monthly deficit of -$73 befor the mod. That would mean a surplus of $73, right?

Thank you all

[HopingtoFind]

Congratulations... sounds like a great mod!

As to your questions:

1) I am going on a trip in two weeks, and if I am not here when the document arrives, is it OK to give power of attorney to my husband to sign for me?

When we received mod docs on our first with BofA they gave us about a month to send notarized documents back. You can also have someone watch for your package and when it arrives forward it to wherever you're unless you're completely unreachable.

2) Did any of you need to send any additional documents with that final letter (such as property tax, prop. insurance, etc)

No additional documents were needed in our case.

3) When we skip March and April payments, how will they know that we are in the mod process and not post anything negative on our credit report?

They note it in their system. Did they tell you that they will freeze credit reporting, in our case they did. If not you should follow with them.

update: I just received an official letter from the analyst cc'd to some VP where they say we have a monthly deficit of -$73 befor the mod. That would mean a surplus of $73, right?

A deficit is a deficit, but since you already received an offer, what does it matter.

[Hillsdale]

Thanks HopingToFind , I read your thread, and got a lot of info from it.

It seems you got your final mod document really soon after the initial offer letter. That's encouraging. I am going to Europe for 2 months, so it would be very hard to reach me there with the paperwork. Not impossible, but hard.

I will leave my husband power of attorney to sign for me. We actually did that when we were buying a house, as I had to travel then as well.

[HopingtoFind]

Yes.. we did receive it fairly quickly. I would still call and let them know what your situation is, maybe they can expedite your docs.

[LHarveyMadman]

Congrats, Hillsdale. Is that where you live?

Seems like a lot of us Golden State denizens have been having luck with Bank of America using similar approaches.

[nathanb]

Congrats! Is this under the Obama thing? did your payment match the 31% or is it somthing different?

[sobie46]

What was the email address that you used to grab the attention?

[Hillsdale]

LHarveyMadman, your story was very similar to ours, and it gave me hope to try. Yes, I live in the Hillsdale area of San Mateo.

nathanb, it's not the new Obama thing, they specifically said they didn't have the guidelines yet. This is the loan mod program they have been doing for awhile. I don't think we are down to 31% yet.

sobie46, the same addresses as in LHarveyMadman's post, look them up.

[Hillsdale]

Just a little update: we have received the final modification document via Fedex on Apr 14. We were instructed to send it back within 5 business days- overnight Fedex envelope provided.

As I am currently in Europe for about 2 months, I left my husband power of attorney to sign for me as we are both on the loan. He sent it back yesterday, hopefully it will work. Actually when we were buying the house I also had to travel so it has worked then.

They were very specific about signing with the black ink, exactly as your name is spelled, just like someone here already mentioned.

Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted

[LHarveyMadman]

That's great, the process is moving forward for you.

Now comes even more waiting....I sent in my final documents to B of A in the first week of January, right after the long holiday weekend. My modification did not get finalized until a couple weeks ago - 3 months later. But it's done.

Make your payments exactly as specified. Even though your payments won't be reflected in your online mortgage account balance, they will be held in a suspense account until the closing department finishes their thing. Then one day, everything will magically fall into place. You just have to be patient - although admittedly, I wasn't. I kept calling B of A every two weeks to find out when things were going to be done.

[Hillsdale]

Hi LHarvey,

as far as future payments go, they just mentioned in one paragraph of the final mod document to send it to the Getzville, NY address or elsewhere if so instructed (we weren't),
I suppose that makes sense.

Right now, I'm only anxious about them accepting my being away and not signing the document. I tried calling every day before my trip to expedite things but it didn't work. They also only gave us 5 bus. days to respond. So the power of attorney will have to do, I suppose.

Reading yours and other people's experiences, I hadn't expected the process to be so short. I just started the mod process on Mar 10, and that's why I planned this trip now, thinking it'll just start rolling in April or May. I guess I shouldn't complain.

Thank you again for posting your experience and for helping so many of us.

[LHarveyMadman]

Yeah, if I were in your shoes I'd be concerned about their accepting your husband's POA signature. I suppose you could try to ask for a 1 week extension, then have him Fedex it you. You'd have to go to an embassy or consulate to get your signature notarized, and I'm not sure how they would handle the fact that there will be two different notaries for your signatures.

I'd have your husband call to find out when to make your first payment. Even though you weren't explicitly instructed to make a payment, I think you are expected to do so. My experience with the modification process had several episodes of miscommunication, so I always confirmed and reconfirmed every step along the way. You don't want to let a misunderstanding foul up everything you've accomplished thus far.

[HopingtoFind]

In our case...we were supposed to miss January and February and our first payment was due before the 1st of March for the month of March.

Be careful and watch your credit because even though they assured us that our credit will be frozen, my husband's credit was hit with 60 day late....this loan is in his name. At this point we have straightened it out and they will remove the lates.

[LHarveyMadman]

HTF, I'm glad to hear that they cleared up your husband's credit report. I was all over B of A like white on rice to make sure that my credit freeze remained in place until after the modification was finalized.

[Hillsdale]

HTF, so the payment for May 1 would be due on that day, not at the end of the month(or until the 16th of next month like before)?

Thank you for that info, also, how do I check my credit? We get monthly reports from some company, can you check it online for free?

I'll have my husband call them and ask about credit freeze.

Thanks guys

[LHarveyMadman]

For me, my first payment was due BY January 1. Not later than that. I made sure that my payments all arrived prior to the first of the month. I recommend sending your payment by certified mail. No need for the signed return receipt; you can confirm delivery online. If they told you May 1, then get your payment there by May 1 to show them that you're following the rules as best as you can.

If your monthly credit monitoring service is worth its salt, then it should alert you when 30-, 60-, and 90-day lates are reported. Some services only tell you if there is unusual activity, such as the opening of a new account.

You can get your credit report for free, without any obligation, from annualcreditreport.com. You have the choice to get credit reports from all 3 major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) at the same time, if you wish. Any of these reports will tell you if there have been late payments reported on your mortgage. I recommend pulling just one at a time, spaced out by 4 months. That way you can monitor your credit activity for free throughout the year.

If you pull your credit report from Experian or TransUnion through the annualcreditreport.com website, do not bother purchasing the credit score that they offer. These are not FICO scores, and may not correlate well with the FICO score that is almost universally used by lenders and credit card companies.

[HopingtoFind]

Thanks LHarvey.... our analyst put a request in to remove the lates, so not out of the woods yet. You know everything takes time... and yes very important to monitor credit on the regular basis, you cannot rely completely on what the bank tells you.

Hillsdale.... My assumption according to what you have described is that your payment would be due before May 1st.... yes they want these payments received before the 1st of the month, unlike regular payments that have grace period... definitely confirm with the BofA. And LHarvey had very good suggestions for credit monitoring.

[osfan]

Hey thanks for the idea about pulling your credit. I just pulled mine and I found a rental property I sold in 2006 is still reported as opened and showing a late payment of $900!!! @#$@#$!@# Again, I sold it in 2006!

[LHarveyMadman]

Strange that it still reports as an open account. Late payments stay on your record for several years, so that's not unusual at all.

[Hillsdale]

Thanks LHarvey, you're on top of things as always! I need to see this through, I think I was blinded by my quick success with the loan mod! Great suggestion on sending the payment certified. My husband confirmed that BofA received the signed mod document yesterday.

HTF, we will definitely send the first pmt. by May 1, no reason to be late now!

[LHarveyMadman]

Thanks. My wife doesn't use the phrase "on top of things". She uses terms like "anal retentive" and "obsessive-compulsive".

[Hillsdale]

Ha ha LHarvey, I think that someone has to be, in order for the others to have the luxury to be relaxed.

My husband called the bank, and they said they have frozen our credit which I will check, of course.

Payment is due May 1, so he will send that, certified.

They need 4-6weeks to process our response and start sending us the new monthly statements or whatever.

[LHarveyMadman]

4-6 weeks is a very optimistic time frame. It took a full 3 months from the time I mailed in the final docs for everything to be finalized. But it got done, and so will yours.

When you get back, you can celebrate at Sushi Sam's. Or Taqueria Pancho Villa.

[HopingtoFind]

Originally Posted by LHarveyMadman

4-6 weeks is a very optimistic time frame. It took a full 3 months from the time I mailed in the final docs for everything to be finalized. But it got done, and so will yours.

When you get back, you can celebrate at Sushi Sam's. Or Taqueria Pancho Villa.

Or Macaroni Grill across from Hillsdale Mall....

Yes I agree 4-6 weeks is optimistic, we are already at two months..

[laamim]

HopingtoFind
I am with BOA and I emailed my hardship letter and recieved a call from Stacy and was told I need to go to forebearance for 4 months since I am current and with F.M then if I am still in my current situation they may do a mod. she assured me my credit will not be effected. do you think I should agree to this?
THANKS