First Franklin Success! II

[telles1]

First off I want to say thank you for creating this website.
We purchased a house back in 2005 with Neumann Homes. We financed through Neumann Homes because they offered 25,000 off if you used their lender. We were offered an adjustable loan with a pre payment penalty and were told "oh you will just refinance out of it when the 2 years is up." Pretty much told its no big deal, this is the loan that everyone was put into. Well fast forward 2 years later my adjustable loan has gone from 6.5 to 9.5 making my payment 600.00 more a month. We can not refinance our house because our house is worth less than what we paid for it, Neumann homes has auctioned off their remaining houses and lots and have packed up and gone home. I called a couple of lenders to talk about refinancing and was told that my house on paper was worth 290K and I owe 308K. Other lenders told me that I should contact my lender First Franklin and talk to them about a loan modification. Sooo I called First Franklins loss mitigation department and talked to a man who was very informative and looked over my account and stated that I should be ok to get a loan modification because I have never been late yadda yadda yadda. He emailed me the forms and I filled them out and faxed them in. Of course they did not receive the first batch and had to fax them in 3 more times. They finally received them and I was told that a "negotiator" would be contacting me. I started this whole process on October 1st and it is now October 25th and I still have not heard from the "negotiator". I have called them a couple times a week and I am told that they have my paperwork and someone will be contacting me. I am starting to loose faith that anyone will contact me. In the mean time I just made another payment at 9.5% and it is killing me knowing that interest rates are in the 6% range. I am so frustrated with this whole process!!!!

[Moe Bedard]

Thanks for sharing your story and your welcome!

The frustration club. Yes, jumping through hoops, only to be told to jump through the same hoops that your already jumped through is VERY frustrating. Everyone is having the same BS happen to them. I have litterally faxed paperwork 10 plus times before. Over and over. Talk about ridiulous.

Have your tried to obtain assistance from a non-profit? Some people have had success with 888-995-HOPE or www.995hope.com . Maybe you need an advocate to be your voice in dealing with First Franklin for a loan modification. Why don't you try them?

[evel1999]

I know this is very upsetting. I am also trying to get a loan modification and I have gone thru some of these same things. My rate is 8.2 and will adjust on 11-1 to 10.975%. It is very upsetting to know that rates are at 6% outthere and I am going to have to pay 15% probably in 18 months.

Keep calling them. They will probably never call you back. It is important to call on a regular basis to find out what stage your modificaiton is in. I thought I was on my way to a modificaiton, because like you, it looked like everything was ok in their system starting from 10-1 with a downpayment on modification 10-16 and was hoping to settle by 10-31. I called on 10-22-07 and they had closed my case. If I had not called, it would of been over a week before I knew this news. Because I found out over the phone, I could reapply faster.

Sometimes we have to seek outside help. There is a lot of information on this site and others have offered to help also. There are companies and non-profits listed also on this site who may can help.

Just keep trying.

This has happened to a lot of people who purchased brand new homes. They paid the premium price when the market was great for new homes and now that the market is bad and the builders can't sale, they are having to make big cuts on the homes and sell for a lot lower and that hurts the homeowners because their home is now worth a lot less than they paid and prevents them from refinancing.

We need to do all we can to get them to modify these loans.

[telles1]

Well it is 10/31 and I am still waiting......
I called FF on Monday 10/29 and was told that I will not hear from a negotiator until they have a resolution or they need something from me. They CS agent told me that a negotiator received my info on 10/18 and that that department is super busy. So I guess I will just keep calling them until I hear something. To FF credit I will say all of the agents that I have spoken to have been very friendly and they all seem to have the same information explaining how the whole process works and that I should be ok getting a loan modification. I figure if I keep calling them every couple of days my case will at least show some kind of activity. Sooo we shall see.....

[evel1999]

Yes call on a regular basis and inquire about your Loan Modification.

Hopeful you will here something very soon and have good news to report.

[JCNLR]

I am a First Franklin customer. We ran into hardship over a year ago and First Franklin did a "payment" plan with us. Which was fine but they still reported us 60 days late. So I received a call from the Loss Mitigation group of First Franklin that they could help us with a loan modification and bring our account current. So of course we jumped on it. Our payment went up only about $10 and we paid a $1,500.00 fee. We started making our new loan modification payments August 1st of this year. Now they just adjusted our ARM to 9.3%. I am pretty sure your ARM is not supposed to be adjusted for a certain amount of time? So I thought. So now I am fighting them as they have raised our payment $500.00 even though we did a modification. Any advice? Is this legal?

[Serenity]

Originally Posted by JCNLR

I am a First Franklin customer. We ran into hardship over a year ago and First Franklin did a "payment" plan with us. Which was fine but they still reported us 60 days late. So I received a call from the Loss Mitigation group of First Franklin that they could help us with a loan modification and bring our account current. So of course we jumped on it. Our payment went up only about $10 and we paid a $1,500.00 fee. We started making our new loan modification payments August 1st of this year. Now they just adjusted our ARM to 9.3%. I am pretty sure your ARM is not supposed to be adjusted for a certain amount of time? So I thought. So now I am fighting them as they have raised our payment $500.00 even though we did a modification. Any advice? Is this legal?

What were the terms of your loan modification? What do your loan modification documents say? Have to start with the paper.

[JCNLR]

It does not really say much of anything. I was told it would lock in our current rate for 2 more years. Unfortantely, I trusted what they said and did not thoroughly read it before I signed it. It does have a paragraph in there the rate can still adjusted...and does still orginate back to our original loan terms. However, I assumed a loan modification would at least last with the new payment for more than 3 months.

[Serenity]

Originally Posted by JCNLR

It does not really say much of anything. I was told it would lock in our current rate for 2 more years. Unfortantely, I trusted what they said and did not thoroughly read it before I signed it. It does have a paragraph in there the rate can still adjusted...and does still orginate back to our original loan terms. However, I assumed a loan modification would at least last with the new payment for more than 3 months.

So you were told that you'd have a rate lock for 2 yrs, paid $1500 but signed a document saying that you agree to go back to an ARM.

Re-read that document. Along with any other docs you were sent during your loan modification negotiations. Set aside everything you heard and ESPECIALLY what you assumed. The only thing you have to work with in reality is your documents - and especially the final one you signed. Until you get clarity about what you agreed to, you may be stuck.

In reading other posts in this thread it sounds like maybe FF's customer service is a little better than other company's. Maybe you can go back and appeal (?? Not sure if that's the right term) this modification and press for a true modification that you can actually afford. A mod of a mod.

[telles1]

From what I have learned with all the research I have done on the internet, a loan repayment plan does not alter your loan terms, it basically takes what you are behind and adds that onto your monthly payment over the coarse of your loan. A loan modification actually changes the terms of your loan i.e.: interest rate, length of loan. So if yours was a repayment plan my guess would be that it did not alter the date of your adjustment. I would call FF loss mitigation department and start seeing what your options are before you reset.

[Moe Bedard]

It sounds like you were offered a repayment plan and not a loan modification. Sounds like the baited and switched ya with the old pay thios fee and we'll fix everything. Do not TRUST what they say on the phone. They can and will use whatever BS tactics to collect money form you.

Take this as a lesson and start taking copious notes and read everything they send you and have someone welse read it too. Like an attorney.

[evel1999]

I think some of us get confused between the terms Loan Modification and Loan workout.

From what I have been reading when they say loan workout that is just where they help you catch up your payments that you are behind on. They look at the amount you are behind and come up with an additional amount you can add to your mortgage payment each month that will catch up up. When they set this up, and you pay the payments they require, once that is finished, and you are current on your loan again, your payments revert back to what the original terms stated. (I think a lot of us get confused with this term.). This is just to catch up the back payments only and does not change the terms of the original loan. If you have an ARM the adjustments will continue.

A Loan Modification actually modifys the original loan from what I am seeing from reading on the internet. But, it can also be used in conjunction to help you catch up the back payments also. They can change your interest rate, extend terms of the loan, decrease the principal balance, add back payments to the loan balance and your loan will be current, and you have a new payment and date and basically it is a refinance.

I think we all need more help in this area so we will be more informed when we call the lender to ask for help. We need to know exactly what we are really asking for in terms of help. I know I ran into this because when I called they said they did not do Loan Modificaitons but if you needed help they could set up a payment plan.

We can be misled when we do get something worked out and find out later, like you may have, that you did not really get what you really needed from the lender.

Most are behind when they call the lender, or will soon be because the ARM is adjusting.

Some lenders will work out a payment plan to catch up your payments and if you are in a ARM and it is not due to reset for a while, will make you wait and do a Loan Modification closer to the reset date.

The Language of Mortgage terms are very important and most of us are not familar with them. This site has a lot of information and has been very helpful to me in this area.

When I receive my documents from ASC I am going to have them reviewed to make sure I am getting exactly what they stated on the phone and that the documents state that also. We sure do not want to find ourself having to do this all over again.

Read all documents and have them reviewed.

[telles1]

Well I talked to my lady today and I was approved for my loan modification. She is sending my papers over night tomorrow and I have to sign them and send them back with a check for December that she said will pretty much go in my tax escrow and then I will have my first payment in Feb. I don't have to do any extra payments since I was not behind. They are rolling me back to 6.5 for 2 years. Finally after all of this waiting!!

[evel1999]

What happens when the 2 years is up?

[Moe Bedard]

Great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please let us know the details on the paperwork they had sent you and I can't wait to move your threads to the success story section.

Congratulations and thank you for updating us with your progress and not forgetting about everyone here. Any encouragement we can get, is greatly appreciated and needed.

[Florida]

Teles - Way to hang in there. I am also very interested in what the modification package says when you get it. My approval is supposed to occur this week.

Evel - I am also seeking a modnfication with First Franklin. According to my FF contact we are eligible to apply for another loan mod at the end of two years. They can approve up to three mods over the life of the loan.

[telles1]

Ok I received my papers yesterday, and they pretty much state the same thing my negotiator states, they are rolling us back to 6.5 for 2 years. The only fee that I am paying is 135.00. I was not behind so I do not have any extra payments. The only thing they added onto my loan was a tax escrow account, which is fine with me. After 2 years it will start to adjust again. Hopefully by then we will be able to refinance. If not she states that we can do another modification. We have to sign the modification papers and have them notorized and then send a certified check for half of my tax payment and the 135.00 and she stated that will count as my December payment and I will not need to send a payment in til Feb 1st.

[Florida]

Telles -
That is excellent news. Congrats - perseverance pays off! I heard back from FF this morning and my modification has been approved. My package is identical to yours albeit my rate is dropping to 7%. $135 fee and I have to escrow my taxes. I also skip the Jan 1 payment if I get my package back to them next week which I will make sure happens.

My loan payment drops $633/month and doubles the amount of the monthly principal payment. Even with the new escrow, my payment is down by $300/month.

Hopefully the real estate market will come back and we can dump these loans before the next modification. Thanks for keeping in touch and pushing me to request a loan mod.

[Moe Bedard]

OK, this is going to be officially moved to the success stories section. Another victory for the LoanSafe crew!

[Florida]

Accolades to Moe and the LoanSafe team. If I hadn't followed your advice and just asked for a loan modification I wouldn't be in this position. I wish that I had done this much earlier. (listen carefully...hear that noise? Thats the sound of money flying out the window!) Thanks for taking the time Moe!

Accolades to First Franklin. I know that lots of folks on this forum are having issues with their lenders but I have to offer credit when it is due. 4 weeks and 2 days from receipt of my loan modification request to my receipt of the loan mod paperwork. It cost me about an hour of time and $135 for an appraisal.

Best of luck to the LoanSafe forumers.

[shyone2304]

I just wanted to add my success with FF to this thread, sorry if it is in the wrong place.

I sent First Franklin my information packet the end of December, I was at that point 2 months behind on both my first and my second mortgage (both with First Franklin), and I was also behind over 5K in property taxes.

My husband called me at work on Friday telling me the approval packet had come in the mail. I called First Franklin to work out a payment plan on my second mortage, they divided my past due amount into 4 payments, and took the checks over the phone.

I got home to review the paperwork that had come in the mail, and to my profound shock, they not only dropped the rate on my first that was an ARM from 8.99 to 5.99, they dropped the rate on my FIXED RATE SECOND as well from 11.5 to 9.5! I called them back that night, they cancelled the post dated checks that I had set up in my payment plan, no questions asked, the CSR was also very surprised that they modified my second as well!! My first payment for both my first and my second isn't until March 1st!! They paid my back taxes (again over 5K), and now like the others I have it escrowed, and even with the escrow added my payments went down over 300 dollars!! I have to send them 1500 total for the loan modification, 125 of that was for the appraisal!!

They were a little hard to get a hold of, but they have worked a miracle for me!!

[Moe Bedard]

Hi Shyone
that is great news!! Could you please post the info in a seperate thread titled
Success Story with First Franklin
I think you might be the first for a modification with First Frankling and especially on a 1st and 2nd loan...
This is great!! By putting it in a seperate thread people that are battling FF could have hope based on your info and how quickly it was achieved.

thank you for sharing your story

[shyone2304]

I will do that right now!

[Moe Bedard]

awesome thanks shyone!!!!!!