Frustrated to SUCCESS!! w/Countrwide thanks to LoanSafe!!

[Horsegirl]

I'm new here, just found your site yesterday! Great stories, gives me some hope. Here is my background: We bought our house in Nov. '02 for $400K, my husband at the time was self employed and the mortgage broker did a stated income and because of his excellent credit we got into the house. In '04 my hubby's business went south and he ended up closing down. We had a little boy in '04 and because he is special needs my hubby didn't want to worry me, he never told me what exactly happened with his business. I found out after-the-fact that the shop landlord put a lein on our house and several people were trying to sue, so to make a long story short we refi'ed to pay off the debt, and my hubby got another job. Unfortunately we could not afford the mortgage and my hubby made up the difference by putting money on his credit cards. Yeah I know bad idea. Our house had increased in value A LOT and I called our mortgage broker again to see if there was anything we could do as we could not go on putting bills on credit. I asked about option arms, because they were big at the time, and said maybe we'll try a neg am loan for a year my hubby can get a second job, and we'll catch up or sell. After looking at the loan paperwork I tried to back out twice, which upset the broker a bit, she even got really angry (should have seen that red flag) well not wanting to uproot my son we took it, that was Sept of '06. Then of course the market crashed our house which appraised at $721K in '06 now is worth about $430K almost what we paid for it on '02, incredible. So now we are REALLY stuck, the loan is in my name only as my hubby's credit was ruined with the business issue, we have a first and second with Countrywide. We have only been able to make the minimum on the neg am aption arm so we have accumulated close to $35K on the loan. Nothing is selling in our area, we have three abandoned homes on our street, one right next door. So selling is out of the question. I have been in contact with Countrywide a bunch over the last two months, and we've had some issues paying on time. This month I had a medical issue that kept me out of work for two weeks. My hubby's second job is really slow so he hasn't been able to work there for the past 6+ weeks. I already sent in a loan modification request on the 4th of this month after talking to the home retention dept. I called them last week as I had not heard anything, and they told me I had to wait until I was actually BEHIND on a payment! I said I don't want to lose my credit rating it's all I have at this point and I have worked hard to get it where it is! Any thoughts on what I should do at this point?! Any help would be greatly appreciated! I don't understand why I have to wait 30 days for a rep to call me back?!

P.S. sorry this is so long!!

[ergoof123]

hang in there, a moderator will be by soon with some guidance/suggestions. we're all here for you!

[RudyJay]

hI.. Sorry this has been a difficult time for you...

Hang in there...rj

[Horsegirl]

Thanks for the responses, for the moderators I'll try to save some time.

Interest rate for the mortgage (1st) is adjustable, it increases every year I believe it is 8.5% right now but we are only paying the minimum, last year it increased about $100 a month, it's set to increase again on July 1st (next month).
The seconds rate was 10% but when the feds cut interest rates it went down a bit, it's a HELOC but was used to cover the additional cost of the loan, we never were able to draw money from it.

The hardship is not over, I am in the midst of a high-risk pregnancy and potentially will be missing more work before maternity leave. Also we have no idea when my husband will be able to work his second jub again as the shop is really slow right now.
Also, with us only paying the minimum, and that is tapping us out, any increase would just put us over the top. Not to mention that when the loan reaches (I believe) 110-120% that it will be adjusting to the full principle/interest payment which is close to $3500 a month .

We are in California, and they have been doing bus tours of foreclosed homes in our area, things are looking pretty sad...

[nitag]

Hello, like everyone said the moderators will get to you soon. Hang in there and take care of that baby in your tummy.. MOST IMPORTANT!!!!

Keep in mind when you get a loan modification that sometimes your payment increases. I don't think many lenders/investors are reducing principal balances.. Countrywide is a tuff one, Cat (Moderator) will help you with what you need. In the mean time go to the Success section and read the Countrywide success stories and you can see what others have done, I am sure contact info is there for Countrywide as well.

take care!!!!

nitag
_____________________
My loan was modified by Avelo Mortgage

[ergoof123]

Horsegirl, rj and nitag as well as myself are looking out for you. YOU need to look out for you and the little one. A moderator will be by soon, meanwhile, as I have been told...'we've got your back!'

[Cat Damiano]

Hi Horsegirl,

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

You indicated that the hardship is not over..................but there is one very important detail to being considered for a modification and that is that when you put together the household income versus the household expenses do you have a surplus of $100-$250 left at the end of the month?

[Horsegirl]

I'm not sure of the surplus. When I talked to the home retention department they took down all my info as far as what we are paid and how much we owe each month, wether we have assets (we have none), etc. And at first the rep told me it was to high a percentage (too much money going out per money coming in) I think it was -30% or something, I had forgotten that we get a reimbursement for my sons daycare expense because he is disabled, and after I told her that amount, as it is income of a sort, it put us into the "qualifying" percentage window. The rep then told me to send in a hardship letter with two months worth of pay stubs and bank statements which I did the next day. That was June 4th.

[Cat Damiano]

O.k........then it looks like originally you would not have qualified for the modification because you were showing a deficit............and with that added income it helped get you to the surplus needed..........so that is good.........
The process does take a while...........so be prepared.......

what you can do to get some movement is to put the hardship letter into the body of and email along with your loan number, address, and a contact number for you and send it to each of the email addresses below..........you should receive a response within 48 hours.......

Hope this helps......
Please keep us updated on your progress.........

[Horsegirl]

Thank you Cat!
I will do that first thing in the morning, I will let you know any status...

[Horsegirl]

okay I sent a note and attached the letter, cross your fingers for me!!!

[Cat Damiano]

Just be prepared because they might not read the attachment..........if you don't hear by Friday afternoon, you might want to resend the hardship letter in the body of the email.......

[Horsegirl]

Cat,
Yeah I did put it in the body of the email. Not easy when you have to convert from a PDF! I followed your instructions to the letter! Let's hope it works...

[Horsegirl]

okay, here it is Monday and haven't heard a peep from Countrywide, any suggestions? HELP!

[Cat Damiano]

CW isn't open for another half hour today.............and you just sent your email 2 business days ago...........they are very backlogged with thousands of requests a day.......give them some time to get to you......