Assistance Please - CW Starting Loan Mod Process

[yankeeboy73]

Hello,

New member, have been reading posts for a few weeks. Thank you everyone for posting such detailed information.

Here are my details:

Brand New 30yr Fixed, 7% $335,000
Mortgage/Taxes/Escrow, $2885.00, includes about $500/mo taxes.
Recently took a paycut, a big one. Drop in gross income 32% from August to December, and my wife's last day is Friday 1/31 as she is now to be unemployed. This will drop our combined income by about 52% in 4 months time. Her unemployment will cover a small %'age, but not even close to enough to fit our monthly.

I called CW the otherday, and the first rep I spoke with said, "there is nothing you can do but Refinance". However, I cannot refi because my credit score is 600. She transferred me to the Refi department, who told me, guess it...."You cannot refinance, call the Hope Department". Could not transfer me, they werent allowed. Connected with a great rep. I explained to him that my monthly credit card payments have doubled, and the loss of income are eating me alive. He explained that I should craft a "Hardship Letter" and fax along with 2 most recent paystubs, Monthly Expenses. The letter should include the loan number, be addressed to the HOPE Department, asking for a rate reduction/modification and faxed to 800-669-4578.

Here are my questions:

1. I believe that if I could get my mortgage/taxes down by $500-$600/month, I would be OK. My rate is 7%, with a simple rate reduction, to say 5% or so, would bring me to the $2350 range. Or I have seen some people getting 3.5%/4.5%/5.5% over a 5 yr period, sliding to fixed in yr 6. Is this a reasonable expectation?


2. I want all of my ducks in a row before starting the process.

• I have drafted a letter, which I will post below.
  
• Also, I can not figure out the comments made in other threads about the debt to income ratio. I want to make sure all the numbers look right. I have included ALL expenses from Groceries to Haircuts to....everything. Is that how I should do it? I am trying to make this thing an instant slam dunk for them.
  
• Is mortgage % to gross income, or net income? My Mortgage to NET Income is 40.19%. To gross, it is 28.42%. What should it be? My Mortgage to My projected monthly balance currently is at -$614. Is that OK? I saw someone say it should be +$175? That does not make sense to me, if I was at +$175, I shouldnt be calling them. WHAT DO THEY WANT TO SEE? Please explain?
  
• Are there any other items you can suggest to make this go smoothly?

This is a great forum. I really appreciate everyone's honesty and assistance. Here is my letter:

Countrywide Home Loans
HOPE Program, Loan Modification
Loan #:
To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter to explain my unfortunate set of circumstances that may very well soon cause us to become delinquent on our mortgage. We have done everything in our power to make ends meet but unfortunately we have fallen short and would like you to consider working with us to modify our loan. Our number one goal is to keep our home and we would really appreciate the opportunity to do that.

The main reason that is causing the shortfall is my significant cut in pay over the past six months. When I started the loan, I had a mortgage to income ratio of 31%, and now my payment takes up almost 50%. In addition, my wife has just found out that her employment will be ending on Friday January 31^st, 2009, making this an even more difficult transition. The change in income has affected every aspect of our lives and I am reaching out to you before it forces us into a more difficult position. It is our full intention to pay what we owe. But at this time we have exhausted all of our savings and resources so we are turning to you for help.

I am including a copy of our monthly budget which currently shows a negative. I feel that if a loan modification was offered that it would benefit us both. A lower monthly mortgage payment would allow me to get through this difficult time and continue to focus on lowering my credit card balances. My goal would be to be revolving debt free by year’s end. In addition, my wife will be obtaining more certifications during her job search, opening up more opportunities to find a replacement position soon.

We would appreciate if you can work with us to lower our monthly payment to a more affordable one. We truly hope that you will consider working with us and we are anxious to get this settled so we all can move on.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

[yankeeboy73]

I want to also say that by "Brand New", I mean that I just purchased the house in September 08.

Thank you again. C

[Moe Bedard]

Hi C,


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

Most of the modifications given are on loans that originated on or before Jan. 2008............your loan may be too new to be eligible for a modification because it was only originated 120 days ago. Also the loan could be owned by FannieMae or FreddieMac in which case the criteria for a loan modification confirms this.........

Highlights of the SMP's eligibility requirements communicated to servicers include:

Conforming conventional and jumbo conforming mortgage loans originated on or before January 1, 2008; Borrowers who are at least three or more payments past due and are not currently in bankruptcy;
Only one-unit, owner-occupied, primary residences; and
Current mark-to-market loan-to-value ratio of 90 percent or more.





You would need to first see what the options are going to be from the investor on your loan and go from there.............
here is the contact info for the HOPE team at CW
1-877-665-6866

[yankeeboy73]

Hi ***,

Thanks for your reply.

So, are you telling me that they were incorrect in telling me to fax over the information? The way it was explained to me is that CW is open to helping ALL of its customers, not just ARM's, or before 1/1/08. In fact, on CW's website, it states:

If your mortgage is serviced by Countrywide and is either a subprime or pay option type mortgage originated prior to December 31, 2007, then you may qualify for assistance through our Countrywide National Homeownership Retention Program.

[Moe Bedard]

you posted an excerpt from CW that says that they are looking at loans that were originated prior to December 31, 2007

that is for the program that began on Dec. 1st, 2008 and is working with loans that were put in place prior to 2008, your loan isn't in that category.


The modifications given are up to the investors..............your loan wasn't originated prior to 2008...........it was just originated 120 days ago according to what you had posted.

That is why I suggest that you call the HOPE team and ask what the options are on your loan.................because it doesn't meet the eligibility of the programs that they have posted on their website............so you would need to call and see what options there are on your loan.......the HOPE team is the dept. that you had mentioned that you were given the fax number to..................this is the phone number so you can call.
CW HOPE Team
1-877-665-6866