My Progress w/ CW SUCCESS!!!!

[sf21230]

HI
I am new to this forum and I want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this cause as this site has been such a wealth of information and advice. I have an ARM with CW that started at 6.50% interest only and then it adjusted in October to 7.9% and due to adjust again March 1st. On January 24th I sent my hardship letter stating that I could not handle the payments at the adjusted rate along with my monthly expenses and proof of income. They told me to wait 30 days and call to check the status. I just called and I was told I was assigned to a negotiator nmaed Carlos Composs. The nice girl on the phone tried to get him on the line for a conference but he was unavailable so she put in a request that he call me directly. Is it a good thing that I was assigned to a negotiator and will he really call me back? I keep reading horror stories on here but everything seems to be going along as they said it would so I don't know whether to be hopeful or not. Has anyone dealt with Carlos Composs as a negotiator? Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[Andrew]

Just keep calling everyday. They are known to say they will have the negotiator call you back and he or she never does. If you don't hear anything by next week. I advise you to follow some of the other threads. Look under success stories for countrywide stories.

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

It is a real stretch that the negotiator will call you back, they do NOT. That is why you need to call, call, call and fax, fax, fax....they do not return calls, this is demonstrated over and over again.

You can not get a number to them any longer, believe me on that one. So you need to call in and do it daily or twice daily and have the person that answers the phone e-mail your negotiator in their system to call you, I figure enough e-mails to the negotiator they will sooner later have to call you. Yet to be proven yet, but at least there is a record of it in the system that you are trying and they are not.

Also a letter to the office of the President of Country Wide helps...

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
ATTN: ADRIENNE ELY
400 COUNTRYWIDE WAY
MS SV-314
SIMI VALLEY, CA 93065
800-669-6093

[mreedlaw]

Good afternoon:

In addition to the C/W success threads - Check out some of Andrew's sticky notes - today he has posted some direct lines to contacts at Countrywide...I'm half expecting him very soon to produce some direct home and cell phone numbers to Countrywide folks next...

Andrew is working on that as we write... LOL

[mreedlaw]

Good one - glad to hear it Poppy - and congrats on your 1600th posting...wow

[sf21230]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share my latest communication with CW. I found out on Friday that I was assigned to a negotiator named Carlos Compos and that he would give me a call. Since I knew he wouldn't call me back I called again today and I found out that he had sent my file to find out if the property taxes had in fact been paid. I had just faxed over proof of payment last Friday and the nice ladie I spoke with today made a note in the file to let him know. The women I spoke with today was lovely and very helpful as she explained the entire process to me and how they would proceed from here on out. She also basically told me that I had a good file and since I was current with my payments they would probably give me a modification and be able to get it done before April 1st. I don't know how to feel about this as everyone else seems to be having so many problems but everytime I call I keep getting positive feedback. Is this too good to be true or is someone giving me lip service?
Thanks,
Stacey

No they are not giving you lip service the file that you are providing them is probably an easy read, that means, you are current do not have impound problems (delinquent taxes or insurance) and it should be a fairly painless process, not that any of these are painless, but less painless than most.

Do not let the fear of the unknown get the better of you, stay in touch with them, yeah, call, call, call and fax, fax, fax....make sure the faxes have your name, property address, loan # and last four of the primary borrower SS# on every page...that way it should get to the right place.

Do not relax, but you are most likely not going to have a total wigged out time of it, just your basic higher than average stress levels. All in all nothing is smooth sailing with these guys, but stay on top of it, keep the momentum going and you will have success.

[Moe Bedard]

Stacey,
I don't think it is lip service........back when most started mods they were inundated with files........nowadays CW has it more streamlined and also here we have the contacts for you to get to the right people quickly. Things are getting a little better with CW.......so just thank your lucky stars that so far so good.........and keep us posted on the outcome......
oh and keep calling don't let up on that.......

[Andrew]

Yeah they had sent a request to see if my taxes were paid also, even though i had faxed proof of payment. I think that took about two weeks. But seriously keep on calling for a status. Even give the office of the president a call, you will see in as one of my sticky's in the countrywide section.

[sf21230]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to give an update on my modification. I called CW today and was told that they were just waiting for approval. I followed this boards advice and was able to email my negotiator Carlos Campos and he did in fact email me back. I had sent a request to him to have my rate be an interest only rate as that is what I can afford, he told me he would submit my figures today to see if they would approve IO. I asked him what the approval is based on and he said FICO and CW's losses. I am worried because my credit score is so low that they won't approve me, and what do they mean by their losses? Has anyone else had this concern. Just looking for some reassurance.
Thanks,
Stacey

[Moe Bedard]

Hi Stacey,
I wouldn't worry too much about the FICO score comment.....they are not looking at the modification as a regular refinance situation, if that were the case most would not be approved for modifications as the scores obviously go down when mortgage lates are reported and such. They are really more concerned with your debt versus the income and how a new mortgage payment would fit in so they could help.
Keep us posted when you hear how your approval is coming!!
Best of Luck with it

[sf21230]

just to give everyone some hope, here is an exact quote from an email from my negotiator


"we are trying to get everibody approved for a modification in spite of the
fico score, but is up to the investor to approve the deal we are trying to
give you, give me a couple of days till I get the docs back to find out
results, for what I've seen most everybody is being approved except some
very rare situations."

sounds like CW is stepping up and helping us out!
Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful advice and support!
Stacey

You negotiator is full of _____ fill in the blank, FICO is not at this time entering into the decisions that I have been dealing with. Now maybe a particular investor is asking to see them, but the house is closed, the deal is done this is hard and fast work out and is based on capacity and perceived willingness...not on the FICO, not with a single one that I have been involved with Country Wide or others....

So....take what he said with a grain of salt and I doubt that there are any investors looking at that issue...they want to see that you can afford the payment after the modification and/or the forbearance and have the willingness to follow through....

Also that the hardship is past and that you have returned to a non financially stressed situation.

[sf21230]

Hi
Here is the latest and I am freaking out! My negotiator told me I was denied going back to my original rate of 6.4% because according to their figures I can afford the payment. Well I can afford the payment if I don't want to do anything else. I gave them my expensed and it left me with $109 a month. I am a realtor so my income isn't very steady and the way the market is now I am living off what little savings I have. Is there anyone I can appeal to see if they will allow me to reduce the rate. I was conservative on my expenses as I didn't want to seem greedy but I can barely breath every month and have no $$ for unpredicted expenses. Please help, should my next step be a call to the president?
Thanks,
Stacey

Did they ask for a Year To Date Profit and Loss in the body of this modification so that you also outline your business expenses....?????

[sf21230]

Thanks for the quick response Poppy! They haven't asked me for anything since I sent them a copy of my 2006 tax return, 1099 for 2007 and an itemized list of expenses. I just emailed my negotiator and told him to add an extra $226 a month to my expenses to cover my property taxes since they are not escrowed so that would make me negative by $117 a month, do you think they will take that into consideration?

Yes they should, feign ignorance when they ask why you forgot....the problem is that they are using income from obviously much better years....sad but true for all of us in the industry....

You may want to assist the situation and fax them the realities of the real estate business as of now....like really bad....hardship.....financially extenuating circumstances....

The 2006 is it going to be better or worse than 2007? They need to reconsider if that is the case.....do not know your market.

[sf21230]

Thanks Poppy,
I was the victim of a violent crime a few years back and was in and out of the court room for 2005/2006 so my income was very low due my lack of ability to work to my full potential. I was able to recover in 2007 and could handle my orignal payment just fine. It adjusted ot $600 more in October of 2007 and I have been borrowing the money from my mother to make up the difference. The reason I have this loan is because I had to take some equity out in 2005 to be able to live. I have depleted my savings and I am living month to month because of the lousy market. Should I send them my year to date earnings statement from my broker to show how that I am not making the monthly allowance they think I am?

You bet your sweet "bippie" what ever that was years ago....and also send them the whole sordid saga of the issues that you dealt with on the problems in 05 & 06 and how it impacted you financially and personally. Believe me they call it an "illness", to be politically correct....trust me I just had a case with "illness". The documentation of the incident with third party "paper" goes some way.

So yes, send that 08 Broker statement....make sure that they get a clear picture that the income is not what it was and that although the hardship is over, the other "issues" are not and may not ever be.

Life hands us some really rotten apples, and every once in a while a tiny edible piece of the apple is usable to make the rotten part more tolerable.

So get the documentation together and the YTD from the Broker, adjust the budget to reflect the YTD income and expenses...then let it rip....also you may want to contact some of your local, state and federal elected officials and let them know just how you are being treated in this whole event.....

Let Country Wide know that you have shared the problem, after you let them know the history. They do not need any more "poster" children for abuse, their abuse of borrowers.

[sf21230]

Hi Poppy
So today I decided to call and try and speak with a supervisor and I got to talk with Roxanne Colone. I explained that I was approved for a modification but that the terms did not help my situation. They offered to freeze my rate of 7.9% with Principle and Interest and I told her that I needed to go back to my introductory rate at 6.4% Interest only or I would not be able to make my payments. I told her my whole story of how I got into this situation and how I was taking steps to improved things on my end and she was very kind and helpful. She couldn't get the negotiator on the phone but she typed a detailed email to him asking him to resubmit and request the rate reduction. I am supposed to hear from her or the neg. for the answer. Keep your fingers crossed for me, if they don't agree to reduce the rate then I will take the actions you recommeded and the paperwork will start flying.
Thanks,
Stacey

Keep at it and call tomorrow between 7AM and 8AM you can generally get them on the phone during those hours....keep asking and keep up the pressure on them...

Remember call, call, call and fax, fax, fax...the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[sf21230]

Hi Poppy
So after not hearing back from the supervisor as promised and having been ignored by my negotiator after requesting resubmission I took your advice and sent a mass email with my hardship explanation and wouldn't you know I just got a call from Tabitha in Angelo Mozilo's office. She was very sweet and apologized for my frustration and she promised she would do what she could to help get things straight. I went as far as to ask her if they would consider reducing my rate even lower than the introductory rate so I could afford to have my taxes escrowed she said she would look into all possible options. I feel so much better now and it is proof that the squeaky wheel gets the grease! I will reiterate everyone's advice, CALL CALL CALL, FAX FAX FAX and EMAIL EMAIL EMAIL! Keep you fingers crossed for me!
Thanks,
Stacey

[Moe Bedard]

Stacey,
That is good........you have lift off......

Your forgot and don't let up on them and continue to.......
Call, Call, Call, Fax, Fax, Fax, and Email, Email, Email.........

My fingers are crossed for you!!!

Good Luck!!
Keep us Posted on the progress......

[sf21230]

Hi guys!
I just received a call from Tabitha and they approved the modification to take me back to my introductory rate of 6.4 interest only for 5 years! Yipee!! I could have jumped through the phone and kissed her. I think it is funny that as soon as I went to the top it got resolved in 2 hours after arguing with my negotiator for 3 days. I want to thank each and every person in this forum for the guidance, encouragement and advice you provide to us folks. I am sure I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this without reading about others experiences and following your suggestions. I am so relieved I could cry and if we were all in the same place I would say the drinks are on me! THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!
Take care,
Stacey