Mortgage Forum

Mike

Last year my husband who is a truck driver, worked for several months and didn't get paid. He would get comcheks but the numbers were never any good and checks wouldn't clear the bank. They always said to wait a few days and they would pay as soon as they got the money for the loads. Lesson Learned!! In this time we got way behind and had to use credit cards to stay afloat.

Our mortgage went to an adjustable rate around the same time. We tried to keep up with the mortgage but it became impossible. In December we got a letter from our mortgage company stating they had "Good News" for us. The letter stated we could possibly be eligible for help with our back payments. We called and spoke to Jennifer who took our information, said she was pretty sure they could help and would email us the application. She said what they would try to do is get our payments lowered and lock us in a fixed rate.

After filling in the forms, sending all required documents and calling to confirm they had received everything, we were told it would take approximately 3-4 weeks to complete. She said we would probably have to have $1500 down but then wouldn't have a payment for at least a month after that. We were thrilled!!

When I didn't hear anything after 3 weeks I called them back. This time I got a different person, Jamie. She said she was sorry to inform me but that our loan modification had been declined. I asked when and why we hadn't been notified. She said it wasn't their responsibility to notify us, that we should have been contacting them. I explained they said it would take 3-4 weeks and I thought that was why we hadn't heard anything. Same response, you should have called us. Lesson Learned!!!

When I asked her why it was declined she said our information showed we had too much excess income at the end of the month. She wanted to work out a "repayment" plan but I knew that wasn't going to lower the payments or put us in a fixed rate. I told her I would need to go back and look at the application because I knew for a fact we didn't have excess income. I went back and looked at the application.

I had forgotten to add on my husbands expenses for being on the road and called back. This time I spoke with Heather. She said I should resubmit the application. I did this the same day, January 17. Called back a couple days later to be sure they had everything they needed and spoke with Heather again. She said that everything was in order. When I called back a few days later to check on status, as I said before, Lesson Learned, I was told they weren't sure they could get all the papers submitted to the underwriter before the deadline but that I should call back again in a few days and speak with Shawn.

I tried calling him twice, left messages, no return call. Finally called back and spoke with Jennifer again. She looked and said it looked like everything was set to be submitted and she would send Bill (again another person) an email and let him know to get on it ASAP and for me to call back in a few days and check with him. I called twice. Finally he called back only to tell me he needed additional information, not sure if he could get it submitted by deadline. When I tried explaining that I was told they had everything they needed, he said that's just the way it goes. He, too, tried to get me to set up a repayment plan.

The next day I called and spoke with a supervisor, Greg. Explained everything that happened and he said he would get right on it. Told me to call back on Tuesday and ask for Greg, if he couldn't be reached by phone, to tell whoever I was talking to to stand up and look for him and tell him I was on the phone. Tried that on Tuesday, No Greg Anywhere, so I talked to Bill again and told him Greg had said he was going to discuss a "New Plan" with him that he thought we would surely be eligible for. Bill looked at his notes from Greg and said, "Oh, no we can't get you in under this". Once again wanted me to agree with a repayment plan. By this time we had been served the initial foreclosure papers.

I was, of course, totally frustrated and decided to call a few of the many contacts I had been getting in the mail wanting to "Help" us with the problem. Everyone had pretty much the same thing to offer, with different fees of course. I finally called (Company Name Removed) and talked to a Duane. I explained what had been happening and he said it was typical. The mortgage company will try to get you to set up a repayment because they get a commission on whatever money they can get out of you. He told me he was sure he could do better for us.

I told him to let me think about it and call back. I checked out the company on the internet and couldn't find anything negative. So I called and borrowed the money $1400,to get the service going plus an additional,$500 for an attorney they work with to stall the foreclosure process and look over our loan papers. I was told, You can stop worrying now. We will get this taken care of. That was on February 21. Now, 2 months later, we are still in limbo. The attorney had looked at everything and said it all seemed legitimate to him. We have had two offers from the mortgage company, first one was $5400 down and double payments for 6 months, second was $2000 down and double payments for six months.

When I called to ask Duane about this we said he is trying to renegotitate but we will definitely have to have at least $1500-$2000 down and payments will definitely go up for awhile, maybe not double but going up for sure. HELP.. I did send Duane an email and tell him I felt he was getting me worse offers than what the mortgage company was trying to give me before I hired him. That was last Wednesday, haven't heard a word since. Thought I would try this for some advise and see what you might come up with. Our time is running out because of all this "stalling". I'm fully prepared to sell but this is the problem with that. We live in a deed restricted, manufactured home subdivision.

There are 7 homes within 2 streets of mine that are for sale. Some have been for sale for years. Part of the deed restrictions say that the home has to be owner occupied, can't rent, lease or just leave empty which rules out anyone looking for investment opportunities. They keep saying, "I assure you, the bank doesn't want your home..." So why isn't anyone trying to work out a reasonable resolution?? Thank you for you time and consideration on this.