Mortgage Forum

Joel Fraser

I received a 6 month modification from HSBC back in Jan and had the same feelings about a temporary solutuion to at very least a long term problem. I lost one job in September and found a had a new one in October, but had not started yet. Also, the new position paid 25k less than the previous one. I requested I sent a request to extend for a longer period the beginning og June and was denied. I submitted the requested docs and budget and was told that I still have $297 disp income after payign the adjusted payment. I did find a better position, but only increased income 10K, still 15 less than the previous. I argued that the budget I sent did not reflect that much disp income even with the mod payment of $1270 P/I. The adjusted payment of $2750 would leave me with a deficit of $1240. The first time I called the rep said she did not know the formula only that it was denied. She said she could send a request for it to be reviewed again and I could check back in a week. I called two days later and the rep said, if I wanted it to be reviewed again I would have to send docs again. She said that when they look at expenses they do not consider credit card debt or car payment only housing (PITI, utilities, and childcare) She said they do not even include food in the budget becasue we should be able to work that out somehow! I stated that the idea that we would figure out how to feed a family of four and not pay any other debt as if they would not garnish wages or is ridicoulous. Not paying my car payment would only lead to me not having a job and thus no incom. She said that they have people paying $100 amonth in car payment and $600 a month in food and if you can cover your house payment you shouldn't be paying anything else. Although frustrated I asked what my options were and she suggested short sale. When we tried to refinance before I lost my job last year we were 32k in the whole and could not. I'm sure that the deficit is deeper consdiering the market. In addition, homes are hard to sell right now. We've lived there for eight years with two small children and after paying increasingly higher mortgage payment for almost two years our credit is mazed and we don't have the funds to put into getting the house ready to sell. When I asked about deed in lui, she said it would jprobably be denied and we would have to vacate the property and put in on the market for 60 days before it would even be considered. I talked to a lawyer about the situation. He thinks that they may be reluctant to negotiate because we have assets, three rental properties that can be liquidated in order to get their money. We already tried putting the rental with any substantial equity on the market and the offers we got required us to bring money to the tabe even without realtor fees. The other two propeties have little or negative equity. If we could have sold them and used the money to pay the deficit, it would already be done. My husband is ready to just walk away. He thinks we would be better of moving into one of the rental. I would rather try and preserve our credit and stay in our home. My kids love the school and I love the neighborhood. Besides it bites to think that we will have to pay the difference in what it will eventually sale for and what we owe laong with having wrecked credit. Not to mention two of the rental are adjustable as well. We would be stuck with those loans for years if we forclose. I can't understand why they are willing to take less money from a buyer with months of holding costs and legal fees rather than work with us. Any suggestions are welcome. Has anyone used the modification services offered on this website? It talked to them and they seem experienced and aggressive, but I don't want to waste the money that we may need to move with.