Advice Needed!!!

[lostinnj]

First, just a brief note to let you know that I have found this site extremely helpful. It's good to know I'm not alone, but sad to see that so many people are having these issues.

My situation: I have an Interest Only ARM at 7.35%, not due to adjust until 5/1/11. This is a refi done April '06, with a payment of $2139 including about $500 in taxes and HO ins. The original balance on the loan was $269,000 and now is $272,000 with late fees and such. This morgage is now being held by Central Mortgage Company in Arkansas.

My husband and I had an income reduction last year, I used all of my credit cards and HELOC (10,000) to help us pay the bills (really bad move - but at the time, I just wanted to pay all of our bills). Of course, now we are way beyond what we can afford to pay. Our net income is about $3200 per month, which you can already tell our mortgage payment takes up too much of that!

When I realized that we were going to start having problems paying the mortgage, I called CMC (Central Mortgage Company) to see if there was any way I could get a rate reduction and they told me they couldn't do refi's in NJ. After thinking about it, I decided to call again and was told they would send me paperwork to send back to them in regards to our hardship. I mailed the paperwork 3/4/08, waited a couple of weeks (they said it took that long to process). I called to check on status when I didn't hear from them and they told me they never got it. Then I faxed over all of the paperwork and waited some more after verifying that they received the fax. I have had mulitple conversations with different reps in their Home Owners Assistance department. I was told they didn't take partial payments due to my contract. Then told I shouldn't make any payments as this would mess up my loan modification (they would put overdue amounts in new loan). Then I called again to check the status and was told that the person who told me that was incorrect and I COULD make partial payments and to call them first if I was going to do that. They also told me that it could take 2 months to get an official answer on my modification and as of last week they told me it was still in review. Saturday, we recieved a notice of Intent to Foreclose and if we don't pay them $6500 in certified funds by June 1st, they will start foreclosure proceedings. Obviously, we do not have that kind of money. We have decided that we are going to put the house of up for sale (last valuation was $340,000 Nov. 07) and RE agent is coming Saturday to give us an idea of what we can get. We are looking into getting a mobile home because we realize we can no longer afford this house and we need to get out of all of the other debt too. I did some research on NJ foreclosure laws and it looks like it takes an average of 250 days to complete the process.

If anyone has any advice, it would be helpful. Thanks a bunch!!!

[Moe Bedard]

Hi lostinnj,

Welcome the the forum and thank you for joining........from a Jersey Girl.....

It almost sound like when you are talking to CMC that you are talking to the Collection Department and not the Home Retention Department.........that is why you are asked for a large sum up front........
If you are still interested in trying for a modification.......you might want to enlist the help of HOPE at 1-888-995-HOPE because you are dealing with a smaller lender that doesn't seem quite up to speed enough with modifying loans.

It sounds like you have a plan in place.........if the other debt is credit card debt you can also speak to couselors at CCCS for that.


New Jersey Foreclosure Law

Hope this helps..........

Good luck with whatever you decide.....

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

[lostinnj]

*** - thank you for your response. I have been talking mostly with what they call the Home Owners Assistance group, not the regular customer service/collections folks. Of course the HOA group seems to be just as confused

I was under the impression that I could not get help from HOPE since my ARM doesn't adjust anytime soon. Besides, I think the income to mortgage ratio is an issue, which is why we're seriously considering downsizing.

We're going to look at a mobile home tomorrow. Then all we need is the funds to purchase if we want it. I'm sure that'll be interesting.

[lostinnj]

Here's the latest - decided to downsize so we're in the process of purchasing a used mobile home. My mom is giving us the money to purchase it. The mortgage on our existing home will be behind 4 months next month. We listed with a Real Estate broker on 5/18 and they listed the house at $339,500
(10,000 less than they would have due to our situation). We're hoping to be able to pay off the now 274,000 mortgage and 10,000 HELOC and with the closing costs we will probably walk away with nothing. The reality is that by the time our home sells the mort. will probably be even higher *SIGH* I'll just be glad when it's all over and we can breathe again. At least we have somewhere to live, no matter what happens.

Question, since I had put in for a load mod, should I now tell them the house is on the market? Does anyone know if that will make any difference in how they handle the forclosure process?

To all of you that are going thru these tough times, my heart goes out to you all. I cry once in a while, because I love my home and will miss what I have here, but I know I can no longer afford it and need to do what I can to survive.

[Moe Bedard]

You would need to tell them that you have the home on the market........because at some point you might have to sell it short if it doesn't sell for asking price........and also if you can get a contract on the house they will work with you regarding foreclosure and stalling it a bit.......but the key is to keep the lender informed......

[purenergy]

Hi lostinnj,
If you are still reading these threads, could you give an update? I didn't think many folks on this forum were w/ Central Mortgage. I am and would really like to hear how it came out. Did you short sale the house? How did it go w/ Central?
Thanks.