AHMSI SUCCESS!! Thank You LoanSafe!!

[GirlsMom]

Our story is so similar to many that I've read here. So, I'll summarize: we have a 10.5% adj (just raised again in Dec...payments went up over $200). My husband has been out of work twice in the past 5 years. He's had a good stable job since Aug 08. I work full-time. My brother, who is very ill with metastatic cancer, lives with us. I mention this because there's a whole set of extra expenses that come with that (house has to be kept very warm, etc). After reading through many of the posts here I've drafted a hardship letter explaining our circumstances and saying that basically the interest rate is killing us. Our mortgage payment is 50% of our take-home. Our total expenses are slightly more than our income. Of course that doesn't account for unexpected expenses and incidentals. I have to go through my list because I feel like there are expenses that I'm leaving out. I'm worried that they won't do a loan mod because our overall expenses are so high. We don't have any credit card debt but do have sizable Parent Plus loans for our kids college tuition. Plus, I am still paying off my student loan (I got my degree about 10 years ago). We make a mortgage payment every month but are currently 2 months in arrears. Should I fax my letter to both VPs (whose numbers are on many of these posts) or just one and see where I get?
I'm very nervous about starting this process because if we don't get approved for a modification....I just don't know what we're going to do.

[Kirby'sMom]

I faxed my hardship letter to both Jim Davis and Jeanne Drake. I got a call from both offices, was assigned to a counselor in Jeanne Drake's office, so Jennifer in Jim Davis' office said to just go with them. I would still fax the hardship letter to both so at least one of them respond, just my 2 cents.
When you figure your financials, be sure to have around a $200 surplus at the end of the month. If you're in the hole, they'll say you don't qualify, and if too much left, you also won't. Mine was around $222, I think. I faxed all that paperwork in on Thursday, so we'll see what happens. Obama's plan says mortgage payments need to be at 31%, but I think mine are already there or even a little less. I want to be current, lower my 10.65% interest, be fixed, and have a couple months break - maybe - as hubby is laid off for the couple of weeks.

[Kirby'sMom]

I just figured out the 31% and our payments would be lowered about $300 on both our earnings, $600 lower on just hubby's. So, that makes me feel better!

[GirlsMom]

Okay, so I should show a surplus of approx $200 after my expenses? And I will fax my hardship letter to both Jim and Jeanne. Thanks so much.

31% would lower my payments by almost $1000. I can't even imagine it!

[Kirby'sMom]

Just fax the hardship letter first. They'll let you know when to fax your financials, etc. I had to fax paystubs for the past two months and, also, two months of bank statements.

[nuttmeg]

Hmmm... this seems to be of interest of me too (I have a different thread started).

In the hardship letters, do you suggest going into detail in it on your expenses or just basiclly stating that your mortgage payment now equals 25-33% of you income? On that, should I explain exactly why my expenses are so high now (bills got higher, income got lower) or is it again a case of just stating they are? Finally, in the hardship letter, should you try to explain that a lowered payment helps now and in the future (getting out of ARM and into fixed to avoid rising payments in future), and how you are going to cut your costs elsewhere?

[Moe Bedard]

nuttmeg,


I gave you examples of the layout of an effective hardship letter in your thread......

[Kirby'sMom]

There's probably a sample somewhere on this site. What I did was list our earnings, then listed each bill and what we pay each month on it. Don't forget your groceries and gas for your vehicles, too. You may need to adjust your totals so you don't show a negative balance. Don't list your %, just the totals of your bills and balance left after everything is paid.

[GirlsMom]

Originally Posted by *** Damiano

nuttmeg,


I gave you examples of the layout of an effective hardship letter in your thread......

Found it....thanks!

[GirlsMom]

Just faxed over my hardship letter to the Jim Davis and Jeanne Drake. I'll follow up with a phone call to both offices. I'm feeling very anxious about what comes next. From reading through the threads I'm assuming that it's best to look like we have $200 left over at the end of the month when giving our expenses? I don't want to make any mistakes which could cause me to be declined for a modification.

[Kirby'sMom]

That's what I've read that your surplus should be. If it's a negative, they'll say you can't afford your loan.

[GirlsMom]

I just heard from the negotiator at AMHSI who is assigned to my case. Her name is Rosa McZiel. Has anyone dealt with her? She was so encouraging and said that she is pretty sure that it won't be a problem getting a mod because our interest rate is so high! I could cry I'm so happy. She asked me to fax over 2 most recent pay stubs and bank statements as well as a list of our expenses. I told her what our income and expenses look like (giving the $200 surplus as the monthly end result) and she told me that after the mod I'll have more of a cushion every month. I'll keep the forum up-to-date on my progress. Thanks to everyone for their great advice! Keeping my fingers crossed....

[GirlsMom]

By the way, my negotiator is from Jeanne Drake's office.

[savingmyhome]

We have worked with Rosa since we transferred from CitiResidential to AHMSI - she has been great. We rec'd our good news from her yesterday and our mod was approved with a huge drop in the interest rate and monthly payment.

We had to refax all our info that was originally with Citi and she worked based off of that. We listed everything without "trying" to make a certain surplus amount appear. As it turns out, it showed about $81.00 each month.

Good luck with Rosa....know she is very busy and you don't need to call her repeatedly....she will get back to you when there is news to report and hopefully it will be positive!

[GirlsMom]

Oh my God....so good to hear!!! Thanks for the encouragement and congratulations on your good news!

[GirlsMom]

I have a question regarding my husband's income. He receives a few hundred dollars per month off-the-books from a part time job. If we include this in our correspondence, do you think they will ask for documentation? It would be difficult to get. I'm not sure if the p/t employer would be willing to provide it. Are we better off not including it in our figures?

[underwaterinfl]

The best advice I can give you it to be upfront and honest about any and all income you have. If you don't have enough income to qualify for a mod without that "off the books" income, whipping it out at the last minute is going to make it look like you're trying to hide something.

[GirlsMom]

Faxed my 28 pages of documents today. I'm so nervous.

[myredrobbin]

As long as you have a small surplus between $150.00-$300.00 each month that is what they are going to look at. So I would do what ever makes sense to you and feel most comfortable with. Good Luck

[GirlsMom]

I haven't been able to get through to my loan negotiator; the voicemail is full. I did leave a message for her through Jeanne Drake's office but haven't gotten a call back. I last spoke with her a week ago and faxed over the requested docs on 3/15. Any suggestions?

[myredrobbin]

They are extremely busy I haven't heard from my negotiator yet and its been two weeks since I was assigned one. *** told me that its taking extra long now since Obama released his modification programs. So I guess we all have to just be patient and wait. Good Luck to you.

[Kirby'sMom]

I wasn't able to get through to my negotiator, Claudia, at all this week. I was able to confirm that my fax was rec'd back on 3/5 with Lindsey, Jeanne Drake's assistant. I tried Claudia again yesterday and got her voice mail, so I called back and didn't put her extension in and got a "Christian", I think hi name was. He looked at my account and said a mod hasn't been completed yet, to give it another week. Claudia had originally told me two weeks and one more week would be about right. So, two weeks is how long their office said it would take to get approved.

[GirlsMom]

Ok, thanks. I haven't even confirmed that my fax was recvd so I'll do that first thing Monday morning.

[myredrobbin]

Yea two weeks is what they told me to, and I haven't heard anything yet so I guess I will call them Monday to, Like they say squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[hucordov13]

Hi Girls Mom.....I am also working with Rosa ...how is it going for you? I had the same problem trying to get through to her. Yes she is indeed very busy. I called Jeanne Drake assistant Lindsey Lucas and asked to speak with Rose...then I was able to get through. Spoke with her and there was some miscommunication with her where she confused me with another client. anyhow she informedd me that she will be in touch in 2 weeks ... wish u luck as well.