Book Description

As a foreclosure mediator for the state of Washington Robert Rodgers, PhD mediates discussions between home owners and the managers from mortgage servicing company who have the authority to modify the terms of home mortgages. Needless to say, he has seen and heard a lot over the past several years and has a profound sense of how the process works in practice. Robert knows first hand what you can realistically expect from your mortgage servicer. The way most people think the process works is a far cry from how it really works in practice. If you act on his suggestions, your frustration level will be reduced significantly and chances of getting a favorable decision increased. The goal here is to stop foreclosure by getting a modification to your home loan that reduces your monthly payment. Knowing exactly how the process works and understanding the factors that play a role in the final decision to modify a home mortgage places you in an very advantageous position. Why? It puts you in the driver’s seat. Here are the questions that he addresses in Stop Foreclosure: Should I Apply for a Modification Before I am No Longer Able to Make My Mortgage Payment? What Do I Need to Show to Get a Modification to My Loan? What are the Two Most Important Considerations for Whether I Will Succeed in Getting My Mortgage Modified to a Lower Payment? I am Currently Unemployed and Have No Prospects of a Job. What are My Chances of Getting My Home Loan Modified? What Hit on My Credit Rating Will I Take For Not Making My Mortgage Payments? What Documentation Will I Be Required to Produce? How Much Income Must I Show to Qualify for a Modification? Can I Protect my Savings, IRAS and Health Savings Accounts? What are My Chances for Getting My Mortgage Loan Modified If I Currently Have No Income as I Just Lost My Job, but am Certain I Will Land Gainful Employment Soon? 30 I Just Landed A Good Job. Why was My Application for a Modification to My Mortgage Denied? What Mortgage Payment Can I Quality For? What are Guidelines for Reporting Expenses? What are the Most Common Reasons for Requesting a Modification? Who Are the Players When It Comes to Getting My Mortgage Modified? How Can I Determine Who Services My Home Mortgage and Who Owns My Mortgage Note? My Mortgage Servicer Tells Me that the Owner of My Note is Different from What I see on my Original Mortgage Note. Can This Be True? Can I Determine who Owns My Mortgage Note By Searching Deeds of Trust Filed with My County Courthouse? What is MERS? I Do Not Suspect that My Mortgage Servicing Company Has the Original Loan Documents. Why Can’t I just Demand that They Produce the Original Documents? When They Can’t Produce the Original Documents (as I Suspect) Doesn’t My Loan Also Vanish and I Get My Home for Free? Should I Hire Someone Else to Handle My Application for a Mortgage Loan Application? How Can I Avoid Being Scammed? Why Did We Get a Foreclosure Notice when Our Mortgage Servicer was Still Evaluating Our Application for a Modification? Why Do I have So Much Difficulty Dealing with My Mortgage Servicer? What Happens When I Contact My Mortgage Servicer About Applying for a Home Mortgage Modification? What Can I Expect when Calling My Mortgage Servicer? Why Can’t I Email the Documents to My Mortgage Servicer? It Would Be So Much Easier. What Can I Do to Hurry Up the Review Process and Get a Decision More Quickly as We have been Hassling with Our Mortgage Servicer Now for Over a Year? How Exactly Can My Mortgage Be Modified to Reduce My Monthly Payments? Am I Eligible to Apply for a Federal Making Home Affordable Modification? Will I Qualify for a Modification to My Home Loan that is Underwritten by the Federal HAMP Program? Is Equity Advantageous or Disadvantageous When It Comes to Getting My Home Loan Modified? What is the Principal Behind a Net Present Value Analysis? How Do I Determine the Current Market Value of My Home? How Do I Dispute a Market Analysis of My Home that Has Disqualified Me from Getting a Modification? What are Important Considerations when Doing My Own Net Present Value Analysis? What is a Discount Rate? How Can I Calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) How Can I Find Out My Credit Score for Free? After Entering All My Information into a Net Present Value Analysis - I Failed. What Can I Do Now? Will it Really Help Me Obtain a Modification to My Home Mortgage If Go to All the Trouble of Doing My Own Net Present Value Analysis? I Know Precisely the Mortgage Payment I Can Handle for the Next Several Years. Once I Dig Myself Out of the Mess I am In Right Now, I will be Able to Pay the Original Amount. Should I Ask My Mortgage Servicer to Consider a Two Year (or Short Term) Modification? I Know Now I Will Only Need to Pay the Reduced Amount for a Couple of Years. How Will I Hear About the Outcome of My Application? Will My Mortgage Servicer Give me a Reason for a Denial? How Can I Dispute Penalties or Late Fees Charged by My Mortgage Servicer? My Mortgage Servicer Says that Extending the Term of My Loan from 30 to 40 Years is Not an Option. Are They Bluffing? What Are My Options If My Income Does Not Justify a Modified Loan? I am Currently Unemployed. Is There any Hope for Me? What Programs Exist for People Who Want to Remain in Their Homes? How Do I Find Out If Freddie Mac Owns My Loan? I was offered a Temporary Modification but was only One (1) Day Late Making the Second Payment. We were Serviced a Foreclosure Notice Today. Can the Bank Foreclosure Now When They have Already Agreed to a Modification? The Bank Has Offered a Modification but the Rate is Still Too Much for My Pocketbook. They Say that They Cannot Offer me a HAMP (the federal program which would make the payment more affordable) because I Have Been Delinquent in Making Payments for More than One Year. Should I just Give Up Now? What is a Three Month Temporary Loan Modification? I Asked for a Permanent Modification to my Mortgage Loan. Is the Deal Done When I Get a Written Offer of a Modification? I was told by a Clerk about the Terms of a Temporary Modification but Cannot Tell if this is a Genuine Offer. The Offer Seemed Very Unprofessional to Me. What Can I Realistically Expect If a Modification is Offered? How Much Lower Can I Expect My Payment to Be? Aren’t the Mortgage Companies the Bad Guys Here? What if I also have a Second Mortgage or Line of Credit on the Property? How Do I Find a Housing Counselor? Are the Laws Governing Modifications to Mortgages Really That Complicated? My Mortgage Servicing Company Refuses to Offer a Modification to My Loan that I am Fully Qualified to Receive (by My Own Calculation) Under the Net Present Value Test. What Can I Do? Explain the foreclosure Process What is the difference between Judicial Versus Non-Judicial Foreclosures What are Other Options I Can Consider to Avoid Foreclosure?