I need help...what do i do next

[lpjp919]

I have been reading this site for inspiration for some time now while I go through my own loan mofication nightmare, but now I need some help. I originally tried to re-negotiate with Option One before my loan re-adjusted last August, but they told me to wait until the re-adjustment date got closer. Before this happened they sold my loan to AHMSI in July so I had to start all over with them. I jumped through the numerous hoops (calls to India, being told to call someone in Texas, faxing paperwork in dozens of times, more phone calls, etc) all to be told that my "Income-to-debt ratio supports the current loan terms" in a form letter that doesn't even have a real persons signature. I called to follow up and wa told that the loan holder will not allow modifcation of the loan.

We bought our house for 2 years ago for $392k and have never been late on our mortgage. Recently our income has shrunk slightly so that we are unable to make the last 2 payments on our property taxes, my student loans have doubled, and our other bills are suffering as well, but we are not late on our mortgage. They told me that I have to make cut backs in my household expenses in order to make our house payments! If I make any more cutbacks, we won't have heat! How dare they talk like they know my real financial situation. On paper it looks like we are doing OK, but that is not the reality. We can't refinance because our house is now worth $275k, but we can't afford the payments anymore and this might be the first month we will not be able to pay.

I saw the names of Jeanne Drake and Jim davis on this site. Does anyone have any history with these people? Are they more willing to help someone like me? I want to stay in our house and do the right thing by paying my bills, but I am getting in deep water here.

Any advice or info would be great

[elpjohnson]

lpjp919.....

Welcome to the forum and thanks so much for joining.....I too went through the same thing you're going through right now. My loan adjusted in August and I was told my investor did not allow modifications.....I did get a modification but only because I hired an attorney and he found violations in my loan documents and it forced them into modifying my loan to 6% for the life of the loan.....with that being said, you can do this on your own, it's just going to take some patience and perseverance.

I do have a history with Jim Davis.....he was instrumental in getting me my loan mod and from what my attorney says, he's a great guy.

I would put together your hardship letter, income/expense sheet, baank statements, paystubs, and w-2's and fax it to both Jeanne and Jim.

Jeanne Drake-Direct phone line 949-784-6011
Fax Line 866-642-4196

Jim Davis- Phone-904-996-9696
Fax-904-996-9653

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

[lpjp919]

Thanks for the advice. I am faxing in my hardship letter and financials today. Wish me luck. I will keep you posted as to how this works out for us.

[elpjohnson]

I'm definitely praying for you and your family!

[lpjp919]

I have still not heard from anyone at Option One or AHMSI. I have faxed over my paper work to both Jeanne and Jim several times, but have not heard anything yet. I know the holidays are coming up, but I thought I would hear something from somebody. To top it off, my wifes car needed repairs ($800) and our door to the backyard is broken. It is going to cost us another $200 to fix. I have no choice but to be late on this months mortgage and I am worried that this will reflect poorly on any possible modification. I have never been late before. Does anyone have any advice?

Thnak you so much and Happy Holidays.

[elpjohnson]

Have you followed up with phone calls?.....I would start calling them daily until you get some sort of a response.....make sure that you are persistent but nice.

Happy holidays to you and your family....

[lpjp919]

I am going to start with the phone calls after the new year holiday. I will let you know how it goes. I have had to miss my first mortgage payment ever. In addition to my wifes car needing repairs and our back door needing repairs, our pet had some significant medical bills ($400), which forced us to be late this month. I don't know if this will hurt our chances of a modification, but from what i have read on here, it sounds like some times this helps your case. Any input?

Thanks and Happy New Year to you all.

[elpjohnson]

Well, there does have to be a hardship to qualify for a modification.....so these events in addition to your initial hardship should help your case a bit as long as it doesn't put you into a huge deficit in your income/expense sheet......you should still try to have a small surplus.

Good luck and Happy 2009!

[lpjp919]

Well, we finally got a mortgage modi from AHMSI and it only took us not paying our mortgage for 2 1/2 months. I am very upset that this is what prompted them to give us a mortgage modification, but at least we get to stay in our home. My wife and I had finally come to grips with the fact that we were no longer going to be able to afford our house payment. It had already risen $400 per month, and in March they were going to raise it another $200, so we said the hell with it, and decided to not pay our mortgage. We were going to live in the house as long as possible and save up what would have been our mortgage payments to put down on a rental home. We had been trying for 9 months to get a mortgage modification and they never responded to us, so we gave up the fight.

2 months into our skipping payments I call them to see what is going on because I had never received a letter, or even a phone call about being behind on payments, and I wanted to get an idea of how long we had before we had to move out. To my surprise, I speak to someone in the U.S. and not a call center over in India, and she tells me that they are working on a modification for my loan. She said i would hear from them within 1 week!!

Sure enough, within a week I got a call from Matt Johner in the Home Retention group and he explained that he would be overnighting me paperwork to sign that would re-negotiate my loan. They were going to forgive my back payments and add them to the loan, pay off my back property taxes that I also owed, and give me a 5% fixed interest rate for the life of the loan. It is a balloon payment plan, so in 30 years I will have to come up with the balance of the loan which will be a little over $150k, but I figure I wil have either refinanced or sold the home by then, so no big deal.

Here is the break down:
P&I = $1878.56
Property Tax = 419.13
Insurance = $57.08
Mortgage Ins = $0
Total Payment = $2354.77/mo

What I used to pay:
P&I = $3106.97
Property Tax = $0 (I had to pay this separately)
Insurance = $0 (Again, I paid separately)
Mortgage Ins = $0
Total Payment = $3106.97/mo, plus saving money every month for my property taxes and insurance.

We are saving a little over $750.00 per month and we don't have to worry about paying our taxes and insurance. My wife and I are so happy. We get to stay in our home and can finally breath a little easier every month.

The only charge for doing this was $500 modification fee that I think was well worth it. I am saving more than that every month with my new payment.

I would not recommend skipping your mortgage payments unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences of doing so. My wife and I accepted the fact that we might have a foreclosure on our credit, but it was heading that way anyway, so we thought "What the hell" and were going to do it on our terms. However, if you are at a dead end, all might not be lost.

One of my friends had a loan with Countrywide and after hearing my story, he decided to do the same thing and stopped making payments. Within 2 months he had a fixed 4.5% 30 year mortgage at a payment he could afford.

So look at your own situation and remember, sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get what you want. My wife and I took a ding on our credit, but it worked out for us in the long run.

Thnaks for your support and good luck everyone.