Worried - NACA Submitted since 1/20/09 and still nothing

[yaya01]

Hello everyone, here is my story.

I bought my house back in 2002 before prices went up with a neg am. The house was built in 1982 but on 1/2 acre lot and it needed some remodeling. In 2005 we refinanced for a 5 year fixed arm at 5.25% for $420K with Countrywide and last year, right before the crisis, we got a HELOC from Washington Mutual for $120K. We took $96K out to do the remodel and in March of this year Wamu lowered our credit limit to $96k due to the drop in market price.

At this point we still have another year and a half before our Countrywide interest rate adjusts and the Wamu HELOC is currently at 4.72%.

Our problems is that my husband and I depend on our trucking business which has really been hurt by the oil price increase. We are barely being able to make enough to just cover the business and personal expenses. In May I had to cash out my 401k from a previous employer just so we can pay the bills but that money is now gone. We have excellent credit and have never had a late payment.

This week I went to Nevada Fair Housing (a non profit agency) but there isn't much they can do to help us. We are not able to refi because we have been operating on a loss. The rep from Nevada Fair Housing said that without at least some positive income she will not be able to do much with the lender to mofidy the loan. They also said we are not late on our payments yet and our interest is not adjusting at this time so we would be put in the very back on the list of other homeowners who need more inmediate help.

So, what should we do? They were unable to offer any advice other than to try to lower some of our bills in order to at least show some income before even trying to contact the lender.

I don't think we can do a short sale because my type of property is not selling at all (1/2 acre horse zoned) even if the price is low. Nevertheless, I think Countrywide woulnd't care about adjusting or foreclosing since we are not so much upside down on that loan. We owe $420K might be able to list it for $400K. My problem is the $96K HELOC. The majority of the stuff I have been reading is not very encouraging and it mainly pertains to California law not Nevada. We don't know what to do. Should we start getting behind on payments to get their attention. Should I contact Wamu first? Should I contact Countrywide first and tell them I will not be able to make this months payment? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do understand that this would not be legal advice. Thank you. Sorry our story is so long. I could have written more so please let me know if you need me to clarify any details before any suggestions. Thank you.

[schwefls]

Hi yaya01 welcome to our forum:

I wanted to stop in say hello and assure you, you are not alone. Shortly someone will be reaching out to you to address your questions and provide you with some sound advice/suggestions. In the interim please hang in there and know that you are not alone.

[Moe Bedard]

Hi yaya01,


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

You would need to start by putting together a hardship letter, there are examples in the Homeowner Tool Box to the left of the forum............then you will have to see what options the investor on your loan would offer........
Most investors do require the small surplus left at the end of the month...........so the counselor was correct when they informed you of that............but you will have to see what they say.............

In a situation like this, the second will usually want to see what the first is going to do............so you might need to work on your first for now........

Countrywide executive team
1-800-405-0078

Please keep us posted on your progress.........

[yaya01]

Do you know of anyone who has gone through the process and still kept current on payments? I have until the 15th to pay this month but I'm not sure if I should make the payment or not.

For now I will contact Contrywide on Friday and tell them I'm not sure if I'll be able to make this month's payment and go from there. I really hate to ruin my excellent credit rating but little by little I'm getting used to the idea. I'm just worried that I will not be able to modify and they would foreclose and still would have to pay the $96K HELOC.

Lynn, thank you for the encouraging words.

***, thank you for the phone number and for taking the time to respond.

[Moe Bedard]

See what they say tomorrow..............and we have plenty of success stories where the members were not late on payments...........so the modifications are being looked at either way............

[yaya01]

I made my first call to Countrywide yesterday. At the beginning the rep told me I was not late on my mortgage until the last day of the month and told me that at this time I did not qualify for a mod since my rate was not adjusting until 2010 and to call back 4 months before that date. I then told her I was not making this month's payment and I was not sure if I would be able to make them from now on. She then changed her approach and suggested we get a part time job, rent a room, ask relatives for money.....etc. I told her neither one of those suggestions was an option and asked after how many late payments they would start foreclosure. She said after three months and also suggested a short sale. Told me I did not have to get prior approval for the short sale. She said to just list it and contact them if we got an offer. If the house does not sell in 3 months I could request a Deed in Liue of Foreclosure. When I told her that I wanted to keep the house but I would let it go into foreclosure if I had to, she then started asking me for income and expenses. I gave her some of the info and she came up with a $2100 deficit. I knew this was going to happen so the call was just to get a feeling of what they were willing to do. I played dum and asked her why she was asking for this information to which she responded it was for a mod. I was like, wait a minute, didn't you just tell me at the beginning of this conversation I could not do a mod? She didn't really answer my question and told me to call back if anything changed about my financials so they could submit it to the inverstor. I have not done it yet because I'm still not sure what we want to do. My husband and I were just discussing that may be we can strech every penny and make the payments until the rate adjusts. At that time our other biggest expense which is the car-hauler truck would be paid off and that would reduce our expenses by $2600. I think we might be able to qualify in the future for a refi with a principal reduction (if the lenders are really doing it) but that is a year and a half away and we don't know what could happen between now and then and if we can really take this missery for that long. I have already gotten used to the idea of having to ruin our excellent credit rating so the worst part of foreclosure or deed in lieu would be the change for the kids having to move out of our dream home, move to another school if we don't find a rental near by. But oh well, we will deal with that when and if it comes to.
I also called Wamu for our HELOC today and they told me I had to call HOPE. The rep did not even asked for my account number. I told him my situation and he said I had to call HOPE. Of course I have called 3 times and no housing counselors available. They keep telling me to call back in an hour. All I want to know is what would happen with the HELOC if I forecluse or do the lien in lieu. I guess I just have to keep calling.
Well, I guess this post is just for venting since I really don't have any questions at this time. I have been reading other posts but can't make up my mind about what to do. I really feel bad that there are a lot of other people in a lot worse situation that us.

[Moe Bedard]

yaya...........you can vent here anytime............

[yaya01]

I was finally able to speak with a HOPE housing couselor as instructed by Wamu. Well, nothing new. The couselor told me the same thing Nevada Fair Housing and Countrywide have told me:
- Not behind on payments yet since we have until the end of the month.
- Excellent credit rating (806). The housing counselot said she has not have anyone with such high rating.
- S Corp business owner showing loss on income taxes therefore not able to refi. This is in addition to loss of value.
- Lender would not be able to offer better terms since we have 1 1/2 years left on 1st at 5.25% and currently 4.75% adjustable on Wamu HELOC. How would they know if they have not even done my mod?
- Budget showing $45 deficit so according to HOPE we are in pretty good shape to continue paying mortgage if I make minor adjustments to expenses.

So, no other options other than to start getting behind on payments and wait for them to contact me to negotiate. That would ruin our credit but if that is what it takes, so be it. Yesterday CNN had some clips with Suzi Orman and she said if the lender sees you have good credit rating they know you would try to do the impossible to protect it and they would be less willing to negotiate.

On Monday a realtor will be coming over and we are going to discuss putting the house on the market. I think this might also help with future negotiations. We owe $516K. The first to Countrywide $420K and a HELOC with Wamu for $96K (remodel). I checked Zillow.com and shows price at $416K so as far as the 1st mortgage goes we are not that bad. This is of concern to me since I would think that the less they have to lose the faster they would try to foreclose.

According to my husband they wouldn't foreclose that quick because of the amount we owe and buyers right now are looking below $200K price range. I guess that would be something to ask the realtor. I know that even bank owned properties similar to ours have been sitting for over 6 months. They are not even selling at $350K.

What distresses me the most is telling the kids (6 and 10) if we have to foreclose and move. At this age they are not very open to change. Do we tell them the truth or try to make the move as something positive and exciting? Maybe we could trade the acreage for a rental with a pool. I think they would like that.

If we could at least get rid of the Wamu HELOC but they won't even talk to us. I would really hate to lose the house and still have to owe $96K, especially since all the money was put into the house.

Any suggestions welcome. Thank you.

[Dan Bailey]

yaya....
It sounds catch-22...I'm sorry you have to go through this. Keep your head up, keep hope and good luck!

[yaya01]

This week we put the house on the market. We decided to list it for 30 days at a price that would cover the first, second and realtor's commision. If nothing happens in 30 days then we will reduce the price substantially. I don't think it is going to sell but just using it as a negotiation tool.

I also spoke with a bankruptcy attorney here in Las Vegas and discussed filing Chapter 13 to strip the 2nd. It can be done and it is an option but the attorney told me to wait until congress passes (or not) the bail out bill which includes some backruptcy stuff.

I have started to get the automated calls from Countrywide regarding my payment being late. I simply hung up and will wait until I get the call from a human being.

I sent my hardship letter to Countrywide to the e-mail addresses that *** has listed. Got Delivery Failure for Zach Harrod, David Bigelow and Chris Oltmann. All others have gone through. The next step is to send the letter to Wamu but I don't know what would happen since the JP Morgan take over. I have my personal and business accounts with Wamu as well. The letter will be slightly different since I will tell them I have put the house for sale and in the event of a short sale they most likely will get nothing since it would not even cover the first. I will also tell them I am considering Chapter 13 and to negotiate with me now and avoid lenghty litigation. Will see what happens.

Does anyone have a list of e-mails for Wamu or should I just send it via fax?

Thank you and good luck to everyone that's going through this.

[yaya01]

I'll send it to them anyway since it doesn't cost anything. Thank you very much ***.

[yaya01]

Since I sent the e-mail with the Hardship letter to Countrywide last week, the daily automated collection calls stopped until a got a different call today (from another automated system) urging me to call 800-669-0102. The message said they are open until 9:00pm but I just tried calling and they are closed.
Has anyone gotten this call? I wonder if it is just a collection call or if it is actually to do a mod.
I'll update after I call tomorrow.
Thank you all.

[yaya01]

Felicia Ford from Countrywide just called me regarding the correspondance I sent on 9/26 (e-mail to executive team *** posted). She said she has been assigned to handle my case and gave me her contact info and the fax to send the documentation for the mod. She said that it would take 24 to 48 hours for the documents to be uploaded and that she will call me once they receive them to verify they got everything they need. She also said that a negotiator would be assigned within 72 hours of the documents being uploaded.

Now, I know this does not mean that I have been approved for a mod but when I called them the first time, the rep said they could not help me because my interest rate was not resetting yet, it was low and I was not late on payments yet. What a difference a late payment and an e-mail to the executive team that *** has posted makes!!!

[Moe Bedard]

yaya,

That is great, I am so happy the systems we have in place are helping you.....


Please post all updates here in your thread...........

[yaya01]

It has been a couple of weeks since I faxed my financials (twice) and waited for a negotiator to be assigned. Yesterday I finally got a call from my negotiator. We went over the financials to make sure everything was in order. She was only missing the hardship letter which I e-mailed to her and a property appraisal. She told me the appraisal takes about 5 days and to call her on the 24th of October. According to my negotiator, once she has the appraisal, she puts together a proposal, discusses it with me by phone to see if I agree with her and then she submits it to the investor for approval.
Has anyone been told they need an appraisal in order to do a mod?

[Moe Bedard]

sometimes they do what is called a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) so it isn't quite like a full blown appraisal............more like a mini appraisal.........

Had you originally asked about a short sale? Because you might want to check and see that they are not working on that.........

[yaya01]

***, I will call right now and make sure it is not for a short sale. The very first time I called Countrywide, the rep mentioned the short sale along with DIL as some of the options since at that time she said I did not qualify for a mod because I was not late on payments (this is no longer the case) and my interest was not adjusting until 2010.
I will update as soon as I know something.
Thank you ***.

[yaya01]

I just called and spoke with my negotiator. She is sooo nice. She said it will be a drive-by appraisal and they will take pictures of the outside of the house. She said that with all the market changes, the investor requires them to have a current property valuation. She also told me I might not have to wait until 10/24 because the appraiser could come by sooner than 5 days. If I notice someone taking pictures of my house the information can be in the system that same day or the following.
I also found out that my investor is Wells Fargo (is that good or bad?) and that she is working on a proposal that will make the payments affordable. So, the appraisal is not for a short sale or DIL.

[Moe Bedard]

Well that is good.............

let us know how it goes..........

[yaya01]

I spoke with my negotiator today but she did not have very encouraging news. The appraisal came in but only a blank page was uploaded so she could not see what it came in at. She requested the upload again and will submit it to Wells Fargo along with the proposal. I have to call her on 11/7 if I have not heard from her. She told me she could not tell me the value anyways because they use internal figures and can't disclose it. She was going to proposed 5.25% I/O for three years and I told her that's the interest rate I have right now. She then said she would request 4% to see what happens but was not very optimistic because she has not seen Wells Fargo approve anything below 5.25%. She also told me that Wells Fargo is not doing principal reductions. I said OK but now that I think about it I wonder if I should had told her not to waste her time since what she is proposing is not going to help much.
I also received the Intent to Accelerate letter stating that if the mortgage is not current by 11/16 they will initiate the foreclosure process. The negotiator told me that at this time she is not able to put it on hold but she will be able to once the mod is approved. The payments would not start until January of 2009
I don't know what to do. The mod will just buy us some time but I do not think it is a long term fix.
What should I do? Should I do my own figures and tell her what would work for us even if she is already telling me what the investor would not do?

[Moe Bedard]

yaya,

Have you tried approaching WaMu on the HELOC and seeing if you might be able to get any relief from the investor on that lien? Some investors are reducing principle on seconds.............not sure if it was on HELOCs though.........but you might want to give that a try as well......

[yaya01]

***, I haven't done anything about the HELOC because I was waiting for the Countrywide/Wells Fargo mod. I want to make sure I get a fixed rate for the life of the loan so I can either request a principal reduction on the WAMU HELOC or file Chapter 13 to strip the 2nd. If I don't get a fix for the life of the loan then the Chapter 13 will be out of the question because once that is on my credit report I'm sure I will not be able to refi in the future.
The negotiator will not tell me what the appraisal came in at but I just found out yesterday that the house accross the street sold in auction in July for $380,000. It is a lot newer than ours, on a full acre and has a pool. Another one around the corner just sold last week for $434,000 and it is also bigger, with a pool and over one acre. We owe $516,000 between the 1st and the HELOC.
I have learned from this wonderful site and your advise that there is nothing the negotiator can do because it is up to the investor but, do I tell them what I want? How do I keep fighting them?

[Moe Bedard]

All you can do is ask.....................you have been speaking with the executive team........they work very hard to get approvals.......but are only able to work with the options that the investor gives them...........
The waiting is the hardest part..........you will have to see what they say on Nov. 7th.

[yaya01]

I just got a call from Countrywide and our investor (Wells Fargo) did not approve our mod because the interest rate requested by the negotiator (4%) is too far below market. They did not even do a counter-offer. She said the most she can do is submit it again to fix it at our current 5.25% for the life of the loan and extend the interest only for 3 years.

I asked her to give me some time to think about it and discuss it with my husband because that is not really helping our current situation and we still have to deal with the Wamu HELOC.

I don't know what to do.

[yaya01]

Yesterday after I got off the phone with the negotiator, I had to have my mother in law take my kids out to the park so I could have time alone to cry and clear my head. Every time my 6 year old son sees the House For Sale sign in front of the house, he asks me if he can take it down and starts kicking it. He doesn't even know what is going on but at that age it is difficult to cope with change. He knows how to read and knows that House For Sale means change.

Two weeks ago I would have been jumping with joy if they had told me there was a possibility that Wells Fargo was going to fix my 5.25% rate for the life of the loan. But a lot happens in 2 weeks. We are in the automobile transportation business and every day it gets worse. We are now not even able to cover all the bills. Our only source of income has been reduced more than 50%.

After discussing the situation with my husband, we decided that we are just going to keep waiting to see what happens. When the negotiator called me yesterday to inform me that Wells Fargo had declined the 4% interest rate, it was right before the press conference. I saw that the Wells Fargo CEO spoke at the press conference and I am assuming that they will also be part of the plan Freddie and Fannie are offering beginning December 15. If not, we will let it go into foreclosure and enjoy the free rent for a few months.

I do get sad once in a while but I keep reminding myself that we are healthy and able to work; my kids are healthy and doing great in school; I have my mother and sister that call me every day to offer help and support or just to check on how we are doing; my in-laws live with us and help me with the kids and chores while my husband is on the road; and last but not least, we have the wonderfull people of this forum. What else can I ask for? Not a thing. Keeping the house would be a bonus. If not, we will pick up the pieces and continue our life elsewhere.

My heart goes out to everyone going through this and at the same time dealing with some other life altering situation. Please keep in mind that these are material things that can be resolved and if not, it is not the end.