ASC modification SUCCESS!!

[alisoncg]

Our story......... We have a 5 year old home in Florida which we refinanced 2 years ago with a mortgage at 7.75 which is scheduled to adjust in July 2009. A year ago in May, my husbands father passed away and we fell behind on 3 of our mortgage payments due to travel, funeral expenses, etc. We worked out a repayment plan with ASC to catch up the missed payments which was $700.00 more than our normal payment for 6 months. We were able to make all but the last payment which caused us to "break" the plan. In the meantime my husband who is a territory sales rep. for a food distributor was told by his company that they were restructuring their pay structure as of this past January. His salary and commision were both cut back which we found out is totally legal since he is not under contract with them. They promised the employees they would make more money on this new plan due to the fact that they were bringing in new products, etc. but that has not proven to be true so far and we are now two payments behind again. We worked another payment plan out with ASC which only required that we make 4 of our regular mortgage payments on time for the last 4 months and if we could do that, they would consider us for a loan mod. We made our last of the 4 payments on July 25th and called them as we were instructed to do. We were told that we would get a letter between the 22-25 of August to start the modification process and in the meantime not to make our monthly payment because that would throw off the calculations. We are around $5000.00 behind which includes the 2 payments and late fees. Since our house is currently valued at around $225,000 and we owe 249,000 it would not pay for us to pay an attorney close to $3,000 to assist us with this. I have a young son who suffers from debilitating migraine headaches which has made it difficult for me to work. We even had to go so far as choosing to homeschool him this year because he missed more than 50 days of school last year due to his headaches. ASC told me that what will most likely happen is that they will lock in the rate at the current 7.75 but not lower it since it has not adjusted yet. Due to the change in income, we are not going to be able to make the payment we currently have and we really need the payment to go down. Is there any hope of that happening? Has anyone else been told to not make their monthly payment while the process is in the works?

[schwefls]

Hi alison welcome to our fourm:

I wanted to stop in say hello and assure you, you are not alone. Shortly someone will be reaching out to you with some sound advice/suggestions. In the interim please hang in there and know that we are here for you.

[Moe Bedard]

Welcome to Loan Safe and thanks for sharing your story.

Yes, I have heard of servicers saying this and it really makes me mad because this can affect you greatly and dig you deeper into the foreclosure hole. You need to keep making the payment if you can or at the very least document these calls to the t and place the money in a savings or mattress.

It sounds like they gave you a workout plan that was actually doomed for failure based on the unaffordability for you and now, things have taken a turn for the worse in regards to the income and hardships. This is tough and I commend you for fighting, staying strong and trying to save your home.

ASC can be tough but not impossible. It is a matter of tact at times and luck. But above all, its is shear persistence in calling, emailing, faxing and mailing until you get a solution. If you truly can make your loan at the 5% range, then I see know reason why you can't save your home. But if you need to get around 2% then it may be tough, but not impossible.(nearly )

Start with a plan, write your new hardship letter, get you income and expense sheet dialed in and start the process ASAP.

Let me get some info for you on ASC.

[Moe Bedard]

Here is some info to help.

ASC
Borrower Counseling Service
1-800-662-3806

ASC
Loss Mitigation
1-866-248-5719

accelerated fax #
1-866-453-6315

Loan mod with ASC SUCCESS!!

SUCCESSFUL loan mod with ASC!!

ASC Success, What a Mess I've Got Myself Into

If they can do it, so can you. Keep the hope alive and the drive!!!!!!

[alisoncg]

Thanks Moe, But I am a bit confused. Are you saying there is a possibility they could lower our interest rate even though I was told that would not happen until the loan had adjusted once which is not until July 2009. If that is the case, do they typically only lower it for a period of time or for the duration of the loan? Thanks for your help.

[Moe Bedard]

You are welcome and yes.

If you can't afford the rate at 7.75% and you are at risk of foreclosure and you can ford a reasonable rate, then they have a duty to the investor to work with you and modifying it down.

[alisoncg]

Wow, wouldn't that be awesome. How much does your credit have to do with getting the rate lowered? We have fallen behind on credit card payments due to the whole income mess and I am sure my husband's credit is not showing very well right now. Mine is good but I am currently not employed. Also, my husband qualifies for bonuses which have become increasingly difficult to get but he has gotten a few since the new pay structure started in January. When we get our financial info. together how do they count that income? Some months he gets it and some he doesn't.

[Moe Bedard]

Credits is not a factor when applying for a loan modification. You need to figure his normal salary and then take these bonuses and average them out over a 12 month period by adding them all up over a 12 month time frame and then divide by 12. Now you have his monthly "average" of bonus money to add to his monthly salary and now you have his true "average" monthly income.

Hope that helps you!!

[alisoncg]

Okay. here's the latest. The letter we were told to expect actually came in the mail this weekend. It says that The Borrower Counseling Services Department has recently reviewed our account and may be able to assist us. It then goes on to offer us a brief description of what the options are. #1 is another repayment plan. #2 is a short sale or preforeclosure sale and #3 is a loan modification. It also states in LARGE letters that we need to be advised that not all loans are eligible for a loan mod. I should add that this letter is dated Aug.15th. In the same batch of mail we got two other letters which are exactly the same except one is adressed to my husband and the other to me. This letter states that we are now 3 months behind including late fees and the upcoming mortgage payment which totals around 7500.00. It also goes on to say that in order to avoid accelaration of the loan we need to pay the past due amount by August 31st and the current mortgage payment by Sept.16th. This letter is dated August 17th which is 2 days after the workout assistance letter was dated. Is it just standard procedure to send the letter telling us what we need to pay and when? The first letter that says they may be able to assist us gives a phone number to call but before I call I wonder if you could direct me on what might be asked and what I should say. This forum has been such a blessing and I actually have been able to sleep at night just knowing I am not the only one out there with this problem and help is available. I can't thank you enough.

[alisoncg]

Now I am really confused, I called ASC this morning and spoke with a woman in Loss Mitigation. She told me that their records indicate that we were approved already for a loan mod. as of August 20th. I told her that could not possibly be the case since we have not provided any financial info. as we were told we would need to do to before being approved. She got snippy with me and told me she is just telling me what their records indicate. I went on to tell her that the last time I spoke to someone in her dept. I inquired about the possibility of reducing the interest rate since it is no longer affordable for us. I was told they would not do that unless the ARM had already adjusted once, the best I could expect is that they would lock in the current rate which she told me they have already done as of August 20th. She said the records indicate that we were approved for the loan mod. and we have a contribution amout due on this Friday of $380.57. This lock-in of the current interest rate is not going to work for us and we NEED the rate reduced in order to be able to stay in our home. I was told to expect a letter outlining the new terms any day now and if I tried to get the rate reduced, I would no longer qualify for the loan mod. Does this make sense???? Could we possibly have been approved just like that? I don't know where to go from here. I have no letter yet to tell us what is now due, just what she told me but she did say that 380.57 is due Friday. How are we supposed to get it their by Friday when we have not even received any papers yet telling us what the correct amounts are?

[Moe Bedard]

alisoncg,


Here is an additional number that you can call in a different dept. to check on your file and see what they say..........

ASC ART Team
1-866-398-7569


Post an update when you speak to them..........

[Moe Bedard]

Yes, they do this all the time. It doesn't mean you have to except this loan modification and it doesn't mean that they have to offer a lower rate. But by all means, do not agree to something that will fail and is unaffordable for you.

You may want to write a Qualified Written Request ASAP and detail what is going on via this letter and ask for a life of loan history and accurate accounting of your mortgage and payments. If that does not work, consult with an attorney right away.

[alisoncg]

Oh Moe, Here's the latest. I used the phone number *** provided and got right through to someone with brains. He said my loan had NOT been approved for a modification yet and they were still looking at it. Since we provided financial info. about 5 months ago they were still using those figures which I told him were no longer accurate. He said we do not owe anything right now which means the $380.57 we were told was due on Friday is not true. Incidentally, that is the same amount as the late fees. He said (after putting me on hold about 15 times) that he spoke directly with the negotiator and they expect an answer in another week. I asked about our current payment which is due on the first and he again said NOT to make it or it would throw off the calculations. I would like to add that he was extremely nice and assured me that they are doing everything possible to keep us in the home because it's beneficial to them as well as us. Does any of this sound accurate?

[alisoncg]

Could ASC be working on my loan mod. without getting any financial info from me??? They told me they are using the same info. I gave them 5 or 6 months ago which I used to qualify for a repayment plan. I did that over the phone without them asking me to send in any proof at that time. I was told on Monday that they should have an answer for me within a week. I fear that they will be locking in my current rate at 7.75 which will keep my payment the same as it always was but it's now unaffordable for us. If that is what they offer me, do I have to accept it?

[throwaway]

yes that is exactly what happened to us. Then all of a sudden a negotiator called us and told us what was going on. But always remember to call. We have been giving so many different stories it was mind blowing. But we managed to save our home. Now we have to figure out how to get our house and name off of these pre foreclosure sites. Any info on this?

Thanks

[alisoncg]

Sorry, I don't have any info on keeping your name off those sites but I have been spending a lot of time here, and if I see anything about that I will let you know. I didn't know such sites existed, what are they called? Did you get a succesful loan mod? If so, did they lower your rate? Are you with ASC also?

[throwaway]

Yes I am with ASC we got our adjustable rate turned over into a fixed rate. They would not lower our rate. so we are stuck with the crappy 9.5% fixed for 28 years that we started with only difference is we are not adjustable anymore.. Good thing is we get to keep our home and hope to never go down that road again. ASC is very tuff to deal with but if you stay on them and all of your paperwork is in order everything should go good even though they have a very bumpy road to travel.

[alisoncg]

I have not heard anything yet from ASC but the last person I talked with said to wait until Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. In the meantime I have been reading quite a bit here on this forum and I am so relieved to have found you all. If nothing else, the fact that many others are in the same boat that we are, is comforting in itself. I have been reading about the loan bailout which goes into effect on October 1st and I am wondering if it would be an option for us. We meet all the criteria as far as loan origination date, ARM, etc. Although I understand that the government will get 50% of the equity, I am a little confused about a couple of things. We bought our home with the full intention that this would be our last home and never intended to sell. Therefore, the government would never get their 50%. I am also confused about the 3% down, is that money we would have to come up with at first or would it be rolled into the loan? Also, has anyone heard what interest rate may be offered. I understand about the 1.5% fee, but if they offered a lower interest rate than what I currently have which is 7.70, it may still be beneficial to us. If ASC comes back and offers to lock-in our current rate, can we refuse it and look into the bail-out loan instead? Any info. would be well appreciated.

[Moe Bedard]

The October 1st bill is an FHA loan basically and would follow the FHA underwriting guidelines.
Also what everyone needs to understand is that it isn't an automatic for the investor that you currently have to accept a short payoff...........the program is voluntary for the current investor to accept.........and at this point we don't know which investors are going to accept short payoffs.......

Borrowers will pay an upfront premium of 3 percent of the original mortgage amount and an annual premium of 1.5 percent of the outstanding mortgage amount.

Here is the info from FHA........

FACT SHEET: FHA TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE TO STRUGGLING HOMEOWNERS

[alisoncg]

Wow, so we would need to come up with 3% down which for us would be between 6 to 7 thousand. If we had that much, we could catch up on our current mortgage which is only around 5500.00 behind. The only benefit would be the reduction in the principal amount. It seems that I read somewhere that the 3% could be rolled into the loan. We also have zero equity right now due to the falling house value so am I correct in assuming that we would not qualify unless we had some equity?

[Moe Bedard]

It doesn't say that you need to have equity for the new FHA loan...........

Voluntary Lender Participation
FHA will continue to offer lenders an alternative to foreclosing on borrowers. Similar to FHASecure’s recent expansion, lenders will be encouraged to write-down the outstanding mortgage principal balances to 90 percent of the new value of the property. In many cases, reductions in principle will cost lenders less than the losses associated with foreclosure.

[alisoncg]

I hope I'm not driving you all nuts with all my questions but ASC has not given us any answers yet and we are sitting on pins and needles. We have always paid our property taxes and homeowners insurance out of our own pocket instead of escrowing for those items. Can they force us to escrow them with a loan mod???? Also, what do I do if ASC offers to lock us in at the current rate of 7.7 and we do not want to accept that rate. Can we refuse and ask them to take another look at it?

[svnjock]

Sine the subject of the Oct 1st bill was metioned here, there's a couple of questions that I needed to ask.
1. How do we start with the process? Do we call/ get in touch with a HUD/FHA approved mortgage lender or do we try and get a hold of our mortgage/ servicing company?
2. Do we just wait for our mortgage /servicing company to give us a call?
3. Since this bill is only voluntary to the mortgage/servicing company, what can we do to make them agree to these terms?

[Moe Bedard]

svnjock,


In answer to your questions......

click on the link below for the FAQ's

The program is obtaining a new loan through FHA.........so it will follow the FHA guilelines.......you would have to start the loan process to see if you qualify with an FHA approved lender...........you can find one in your area off of the FHA website.............
It is voluntary to the investor on your loan..........so at this point we don't know which investors are going to take the short payoff.......


Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 FAQ

[alisoncg]

Today I called ASC and was told by another phone drone that our modification was "really close" and I should expect a packet to be overnighted to us any day now. I asked if she could tell me what they have so far and she said they have locked it in at the current rate of 7.70. She did not tell me if that was for the remainder of the loan which is 28 years, but she did say our new payment would be around $65.00 more than it is now due to the months we are behind. She said they have put Septembers and Octobers payment into the mod. and we will have a payment due on Nov.1st. I once again told her that the current payment is too much for us and will cause us to fail again. She suggested that she could send us new financial info.papers to fill out and we could try again. WHAT????? It's wonderful that they locked us in, but the recent change in my husband's income means we are making less now than we were when we gave them financials 6 months ago. I don't know what to do. If we accept this mod.can we still try to get the interest rate lowered? Is it worth even trying? I asked who our investor was and she told me it was Citigroup, does that mean City Residential? I am so confused now, I don't know what to do.