Yes, Modification Zoom is a completely free homeowner help resource – we help homeowners modify their loans, completely for free, and we do it because we actually care. I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Justin Bartlett, and I know loan modifications, and I’m the guy behind this site. I’m the guy that fields your 2 AM calls, walks you through preparing a financial prospectus or profit and loss for the fourth time, helps you with HAMP qualification, and even three-way calls your lender to negotiate your modification.

I’ve helped over 200 homeowners for free to date. I shy away from recognition, declining interviews with major news agencies, and I don’t ask for anything in return for what I do.

I’m a little irritated, so I want to cover a couple of simple things regarding human decency and respect as apparently it must be spelled out.

Final thought – I simply cannot handle all of the phone calls, comments, and e-mails from homeowners. I’m looking for a few good Samaritans to field calls, answer comments & e-mails, and help in the cause. If you fit the bill, feel free to call me (except at 2am!) at (202) 580-0637.

Ah yes, New York – the Empire State. Home of the Yankees, Alicia Keys & those “I <3 NY” stickers that keep popping up everywhere. More recently known as one of the states hardest hit by foreclosure, and home to a recently discovered gem, the Young Law Group.

For homeowners in need of a New York Loan Modification Attorney, The Young Law Group is by far the best choice. Coupling over 30 years of combined legal experience with a tenacity and dedication to helping homeowners that simply leaves one in awe, this New York Loan Modification Attorney Group covers a plethora of services, including Foreclosure Defense, Forensic Audits, Bankruptcy, Loss Mitigation, Mortgage & Loan Modification, even Immigration Law and Landlord & Tenant Relations.

You can read more about the Young Law Group by scrolling to the bottom of this post, or you can contact them right now by giving them a call at (631) 244-1433. First, let’s talk about why we’re suggesting this New York Loan Modification Group.

Well, Why are You Guys Suggesting This Attorney Group?

Here at Modification Zoom we help homeowners tackle achieving loan modification for free through the Making Home Affordable Program, or through the multifarious “in-house” loan modification programs offered by various lenders. Sometimes, homeowners for one reason or another simply are unable to qualify for a loan modification, or are simply fed up with getting the run-around from their lender, being kicked out of trial loan modifications, being continuously asked for the same “lost documents”, or dealing with the feeling of hopelessness that comes with an impeding foreclosure.

When a loan modification simply doesn’t seem to be in the cards, often homeowners will ask us for a referral to a reputable Loan Modification Attorney that will handle their case. Very simply, Attorneys can do a heck of a lot that we here at Modification Zoom can’t; often we’ll even go as far as helping homeowners to prepare their modification packages, writing hardship letters and preparing financial statements, even coaching homeowners through calls with their lenders, and sitting in on negotiations – it’s out mission to ensure that homeowners aren’t being suckered by big banks.

This being said, what we can’t provide is legal advice, or, most importantly, foreclosure defense. There’s a huge difference between foreclosure defense and loan modification help; as a homeowner, foreclosure defense affords you the ability to assert your rights to oppose a foreclosure proceeding through litigation defense.

What separates an Attorney from a scam “Pay $300 online and get a forensic audit” – is that an Attorney actually knows what to do with the darn thing, can actually use it against your lender, and can actually represent you in a court of law in the state(s) they are licensed to practice.

Great Loan Modification Attorneys have a myriad of legal tools in their arsenal, and use a combination of Forensic Loan Audits, Litigation Defense, Order to Show Cause, Qualified Written Requests, and much more to maximize the amount of leverage you hold to help gain the most benefit possible with regard to lender negotiation, or keeping the home from being foreclosed on.

Having spoken extensively with the Attorneys, paralegals and support staff at the Young Law Group, and being blown away by their professionalism, diligence in answering questions, and the sheer scope of legal knowledge that they possess, we happily and unabashedly recommend that visitors here who need an Attorney contact them at (631) 244-1433.

Beware of Loan Modification Scams

Let’s face it – there’s a lot of crappy modification companies out there – we know because the majority of the homeowners that we rescue have thrown away money working with these fly-by-night scam artists. Doing it yourself or getting an Attorney really are your only safe options.

Our advice – work with a law group, never work with a “loan modification company”, regardless of how great that sales rep is on the phone, or what he / she promises they can do for you. There’s nothing that a loan modification company can do for you that you can’t learn for yourself right here on modification zoom, or that we’ll help you through for free.

We’re here to help, and as always, anytime that you are in need of free loan modification help, you can always reach Justin Bartlett at (202) 580-0637 – he’s a great guy and will help you as best he can.

About The Young Law Group

The Young Law Group, PLLC was founded by its Principal Counselor Ivan E. Young, Esq., for the sole purpose of providing a new level of legal experience and expertise to individual’s and business’s who have experienced one or more hardships which may involve finances, and/or financially related legal predicaments. With respect to Mr. Young’s dedication in utilizing strategy, logic and methodical evaluation processes; it took him over 7 years to form and staff his ideal law group. The Young Law Group, PLLC is a reflection of a new age law firm which encapsulates honesty, dedication, experience, character, ability, and ingenuity. You can view their website here at www.younglawgroup.org.

We recognize that sometimes, foreclosure defense is simply the only option; sometimes, no matter how hard we try or what we do, we simply need professional, attorney help. We’re putting together a list of Attorneys by State (see the map below), and we need your help!

There has been a good deal of coverage of the case for Attorney Representation, notably among the most respected industry professionals; here are a couple of posts that may help in your decision, however please utilize Modification Zoom as your first stop for free loan modification help while reading these articles:

Approved Attorneys by State

Every single Attorney on this map has been as thoroughly interviewed by Modification Zoom as possible within the limits of client confidentiality and Attorney – client privilege; legally as a consumer advocacy group we are not able to physically investigate each and every file, or request even the first name of an Attorney’s client without the client’s express and written authorization, however, we do interview each and every employee of the law firm in question, from the Principal & Partners all the way down to the paralegals, secretaries and processors. Additionally we do contact clients that have expressly agreed to be contacted by us, and have provided a testimonial either for or against the firm in question.

Loan Modification Certification Benefits

Becoming Certified by Modification Zoom has a huge number of benefits, most notably receiving homeowner referrals for the State that you practice law in; Modification Zoom is contacted by thousands of homeowners monthly who have attempted loan modifications on their own, and truly need the guidance and experience of an ethical Loss Mitigation Attorney.

The benefits are based upon the level at which you are ranked by our Accreditation team, after interviews of your employees and review of client testimonials. Receiving a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Accreditation provides a level of ethos for loss mitigation professionals on par with BBB or McAfee Safe Accreditations for small businesses.

The Modification Zoom Approval Seal is rapidly becoming recognized throughout the loss mitigation industry as the standard that Legal Groups strive to achieve; becoming a member of this exclusive organization can be a tough process, and you may have to make a few changes to become approved. Here are the Benefits of receiving certification:

Membership does entail a small quarterly fee to cover the cost of interview as well as proper exposure for your company through the Modification Zoom network to ensure the full education of homeowners from your State that will connect with you, and to ensure that they have attempted all means of modifying on their own for free.

Becoming Accredited

To Attorney Companies wishing to gain Modification Zoom accreditation: We offer three levels of certification, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, as determined by telephone interviews with all employees of the firm as well as reviews of client testimonials from those of your clients that express written and documented authorization to be contacted by Modification Zoom.

If you are a loan modification attorney intent on receiving loan modification certification, feel free to contact us directly at (202) 580-0637, or send an e-mail to Justin Bartlett entitled “Loan Modification Attorney Certification”. Accreditation is updated on a quarterly basis, with re-interview of employees, as well as a mandatory quarterly webinar for all approved Attorney Groups which requires the online presence of at least one authorized representative of your firm.

For Homeowners

For homeowners intent on receiving Attorney help, we hope this proves to be the very best resource available. There are a huge number of scam modification companies out there that prey upon homeowners in need. This is absolutely not right, and we need to work together to crack down on these bad companies.

The companies that have made the approval list, and have received Modification Zoom’s endorsement have been diligently inteviewed by our staff. Each attorney groups is assigned only ONE state, the state that they are licensed to practice law in, unless they are 1) licensed to practice in multiple states and 2) are large enough to provide hands-on attention to homeowners from multiple states; What good is a loan modification attorney from New York going to do for you if you live in California? They will not be able to go to court for you if need be and represent you against your lender.

Modification Zoom & the Future

Modification Zoom will be undergoing an extensive face-lift over the duration of the next month to become the penultimate free homeowner loan modification resource, with information on how to DIY loan modification for free.

Additionally, we will be allowing users to create profiles, join groups, add each other as friends, chat, post in forums, and more, and we thank all of the wonderful feedback and support that we have received from visitors just like yourself.

Conclusion

In closing, this is a collaborative effort to make the loss mitigation world smaller and connect homeowners with good, ethical legal representation. We need everyone’s help. If you are a homeowner that has engaged a loan modification group previously, good or bad, we need your feedback, so leave a comment below telling us about your experience! If you are an attorney, feel free to post a link to your website via comment below, and write a little bit about your firm!

Getting a loan modification from Citi Bank can be a time consuming effort, however we’re going to simplify the process through a step by step breakdown of exactly what you need to do.

First, however, a little background on Citi Mortgage and loan modification programs.  A loan modification is an agreement between borrower and lender (Citi Bank) to reduce the monthly payments of the borrower to an affordable amount, allowing the borrower to keep their home, and the lender to avoid the high cost of foreclosure.

Citi is quite motivated to modify your mortgage for two reasons, first and foremost, through modification they can avoid losing significant money on selling your home as a foreclosure.  Second, a good deal of pressure has been placed on Citi Mortgage recently by the Treasury Department, Congress, and the Obama Administration to help more homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program.

Citi Bank does participate in the Making Home Affordable program, a program designed to help homeowners reduce their monthly payments to 31% of their gross income; in depth program guidelines and help on qualification for the Treasury Loan Modification Program can be found here.

Citi has a separate department, the Office of Homeownership Preservation, dedicated to helping homeowners modify their mortgages.  Citi’s stance on outside help is that homeowners do not need professional or Attorney guidance in getting their mortgages modified.  We beg to differ.

As of November, 2009, Citi had 100,126 homeowners in Trial Loan Modifications, however, had only granted 271 permanent loan modifications.  This is a less than 1% Permanent Modification Success rate, and absolutely horrible.

Compare this with the majority of Attorney Groups, most all of which lay claim to a 90% + success rate on loan modifications for their clients.

Taking the First Steps

Regardless of whether or not you need professional help, the first step in getting a loan modification from Citi Mortgage is to write a hardship letter.

Your hardship letter is your opportunity to tell Citi exactly what the financial hardship is that you are experiencing, as well as express your desire to find a plausible solution that is both in your and Citi’s best interest.

Your hardship letter should include your name, address and contact information, and loan number, as well as your purpose in contacting Citi’s Loss Mitigation Department; would you like to save your home through a loan modification, or would you rather sell it is a short-sale?  In your hardship letter you should state clearly the reason for your financial difficulty, and state whether this is a permanent or short term hardship.  Your hardship letter should be about one page typed, clear, concise, and to the point.

When you have completed your hardship letter, begin gathering the required documentation for a Citi Bank loan modification, which consists of W-2s, Paystubs, Tax Returns, and 2 months of bank statements.  If your taxes and insurance are not escrowed into your monthly mortgage payments, you will need to document those figures, and if you are self-employed you will need to prepare a 3 month Profit and Loss statement as well.

Contacting Citi Bank Loss Mitigation

Citi’s Office of Homeownership Preservation can be reached via phone at (866) 915-8417 Monday – Thurdsay, 6am-6pm PST and on Fridays 6am-3pm PST, however we urge you  to speak to an unbiased Attorney to advise you of your legal rights prior to contacting Citi to ensure they offer you the help you are entitled to and qualify for.  Additionally, it’s important and helpful to speak with a HUD Counselor regarding your mortgage; HUD can be reached at (800) 569-4287.  You will need to fill out the following form to submit to Citi’s Office of Homeownership Preservation: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/citizen/community/homeownershippreservation/hardshp_pckg.pdf.

Getting a mortgage loan modification from Community Bank and Trust can be an arduous and time consuming process, however, here is some information on their requirements and guidelines, as well as the Community Bank and Trust loan modification program process to help you save your home and achieve financial stability.

Community Bank and Trust now participates in the Treasury Loan Modification Plan, also known as the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program, designed to help homeowners lower their monthly mortgage payments to affordable amounts and decrease the amount of foreclosures nationwide.

Throughout the Country, many homeowners are desperately in need of assistance to help lower the amount they are paying every month on their mortgage, and, according to the USA Today, homeowners that achieve a permanent loan modification under Making Home Affordable save on average $550 per month on their loan payments.

This sounds great, right?  How is this the National average of savings for loan modifications under HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program)?  Well, the Obama Loan Modification Program allows for the reduction of interest rates to as low as 2% on 30 year or 40 year terms, and the purpose of  a loan modification is to prevent loss to the mortgage servicer by allowing the lender to avoid having to foreclose on homeowners that may be able to make lower, affordable payments.

Unfortunately, to date of those placed into Trial Loan Modifications, only 4% have actually gotten permanent loan modifications.  There’s no real easy answer as to how to ensure that you get a permanent loan modification, other than that it may be in your best interest to consult with a professional that can help guide your loss mitigation efforts, or simply represent your case for you.

If you are looking to qualify for a loan modification with Community Bank and Trust, first you should put together a hardship letter, as well as a financial prospectus detailing your current financial circumstances, specifically your gross and net monthly income, expenses, and assets.  Additionally you will need to gather the required supporting documentation consisting of W-2s and paystubs, or a 3 month Profit and Loss Statement and 2 Years Tax Returns if self-employed, 3 months bank statements, and a copy of your most recent mortgage statement.

A detailed look at Community Bank loan modification requirements and guidelines can be found under the Making Home Affordable Guidelines, available here.

There are a plethora of Loan Modification Guidelines out there for a number of lender and government programs that exist to help homeowners lower their mortgage payments and stop foreclosure.  Most likely, you’re looking for information on how to get a loan modification and want to make sure that you qualify.

We’re going to take a look at the guidelines for one of the major Loan Modification Programs, Making Home Affordable.  Making Home Affordable has both a refinance side and a loan modification side, however, it seems that more homeowners can benefit from modifying their mortgages.  This program is also known as the Treasury Loan Modification Program, or the Obama Plan.

Qualification right off the bat is contingent on a couple of key factors.  First, your home needs to be your primary and only residence.  This means that at the time of your application, the home that you are having trouble making payments on has to be the only home that you own.

Second, the amount that you owe on your mortgage needs to be less than or equal to $729,750.  Seems like an arbitrary number, right?  The fact of the matter is that this Government Initiative exists to help homeowners that have what is termed “Conventional” mortgages, rather than those that own huge mansions that have been financed though “Jumbo” loans.

Thirdly, you need to have had your mortgage for at least one year.  Regardless of how long you’ve owned your home, it’s not entirely fair for you to qualify under the loan modification guidelines if you’ve recently refinanced and pulled all the equity out of your home, only to find that you can no longer afford the payments.

The final qualification is whether or not reducing your housing payment to 31% of your gross monthly income would put you in a better financial situation, solve the hardship you are experiencing, and help you avoid foreclosure.

To determine the payment that you would qualify for under Making Home Affordable or HAMP guidelines, merely multiply the amount that you make each month before taxes by .31.

If you are self-employed, take an average of your last 3 months income after expenses and multiply that number by .31.  The product that you have is what is commonly referred to as your “affordable housing payment”.

From here, you need to determine what interest rate you need to have to qualify for your affordable housing payment, and make sure that the interest rate you are requesting is within the program parameters.

To do this, we need to work backwards.  Break down your taxes and insurance into monthly figures and subtract the amount that you pay per month from your “affordable housing payment”.  This will be your new “P&I” (Principal & Interest) payment.

Use a mortgage calculator and put in your current loan amount, 30 year term, and to start, a 5.5% interest rate.  Calculate the monthly payment and check if this is the same as your Affordable Principal & Interest payment.  If it isn’t, decrease the interest rate by .125% (5.375%) and calculate again.

Continue decreasing the interest rate by eights (.125) until you reach the affordable payment you need.  If you reach 2% on a 30 year term and the mortgage payment is too high, change the number of years to 40 years and start over.

Keep in mind that a lower interest rate and longer loan term will lower your payment more, however, the more you decrease the rate the less likely your lender is to convert your Trial Loan Modification to a Permanent Loan Modification.

This is the bulk of the qualification for the Treasury Loan Modification Program.  To complete the qualification, create a financial prospectus by drawing up a detailed list of all income, expenses and assets.

Determine your bottom line net cashflow by subtracting your total current bills from the amount that you take home each month (net income) after taxes.  This should be a negative number.

Be sure that after the modification your proposed net cashflow is a positive number.  To determine your proposed net cashflow, subtract your proposed expenses (the same expenses as before, but with your “affordable” payment instead of the amount you pay on your mortgage now) from your net income.  This should now be a positive number.

So, if you are minus $250 currently in terms of net cashflow, and under the loan modification guidelines, you are supposed to save $500 though your affordable payment, you should end up with positive $250 cashflow proposed.

I understand this can be a little bit confusing, and this is truly just the beginnings of getting qualified for a loan modification under HAMP.  But this will get you into a Trial Modification.  If you’re a homeowner in need of financial assistance and you’re worried about losing your home, we can get a loan modification done for you.

Take a look through ModificationZoom.com; you’ll find all the information that you need to get a loan modification on your own, however, if you still believe that you need help, contact us using the contact form on the right.  There’s a reason why our clients call us the best loan modification company.

To date over $50 billion has been spent of the $787 billion stimulus bill towards helping homeowners avoid foreclosure through Stimulus Mortgage Help.  This Stimulus Mortgage Help comes by way of various Government Programs that encourage banks to modify the mortgages of homeowners that are in financial trouble.

There are Four (4) Major Government Programs that came about during and after the Stimulus that offer mortgage help and relief to homeowners in trouble.  Here are the programs and how they can help you:

Making Home Affordable

The most common source of stimulus mortgage help is the Obama Loan Modification Program, the technical name of which is the Making Home Affordable Program. This program offers homeowners the option to refinance or modify their mortgage to affordable payments allowing them to avoid losing their homes.

Under the loan modification side of the Making Home Affordable Program, homeowners can reduce their monthly mortgage payments to 31% of their monthly gross income; to find out what your new mortgage payment would be for your home, merely multiply the amount you make before taxes by .31!

Qualification for the Making Home Affordable stimulus mortgage help is based on a couple of key questions, which are as follows:

If you’ve answered yes to all of the above questions, you most likely qualify for mortgage help. If you’re unsure whether or not you qualify for stimulus relief, or need more information, complete the contact form on this page and we’ll help you out!

Under the refinancing side of the Making Home Affordable, homeowners may be eligible to refinance their home loan provided they meet the following simple criteria:

If you’ve answered yes to the above questions, you may qualify for a refinance; however, often homeowners get better results through a loan modification than a refinance. Read about the pros and cons of refinancing and loan modification here .

FDIC Mod-in-a-Box

The Mod-in-a-Box program came about when the FDIC took over Indymac Bank. Qualification for Stimulus Mortgage Help under Mod-in-a-Box is very similar to the loan modification side of Making Home Affordable, with the exception that your lender must be Indymac FSB, and your “affordable payment” is 38% of your gross income. For more information on this program, please read this post.

Federal Housing Administration Loan Modification

The very best FHA Loan Modification Program is FHA HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program). FHA HAMP’s guidelines are almost identical to the Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program, however FHA HAMP is strictly for loans underwritten by the Federal Housing Association. There’s a huge amount of information to cover on FHA HAMP, and rather than discussing it here, check out this post for all the program guidelines if your loan is an FHA loan.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Loan Modification Program

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, monitors loans originated and serviced by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The FHFA Loan Modification Program offers a comprehensive program to help homeowners that are facing financial difficulty and in danger of defaulting on their mortgage. For more information on the FHFA Loan Modification Program, please visit http://www.fhfa.gov.

If you’re having trouble making your mortgage payments on time and are in need of stimulus help, Modification Zoom can assist you in getting the help that you need. Complete the contact form at the top right and we will contact you immediately!

Central Jersey FCU is a Federal Credit Union that predominantly focuses in local retail banking in New Jersey. If your mortgage is currently held by Central Jersey FCU and you are facing financial hardship, modifying your home loan through a mortgage modification may be the best way to avoid foreclosure, and lower the amount you are paying each month.

Most likely your familiar with loan modifications; lately there has been a huge amount of media attention on the subject as so many homeowners across America are using loan modifications as their means to achieving financial stability.

Most lenders do not want to foreclose on homes; it costs the a significant amount of time and money, and Central Jersey FCU is no different. Getting a loan modification in fact has never been easier as Central Jersey Federal Credit Union now participates in President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program.

How does this make getting a loan modification easier? Well, Making Home Affordable is a Government Program designed to aid borrowers that are facing financial difficulty. HAMP levels the playing field, setting a specific set of guidelines under which deserving homeowners can modify their loans provided they meet basic qualifications.

Most lenders that participate in HAMP have received bailout funds under TARP, and additionally receive financial incentive from the Government for each and every loan they modify.

Regardless of whether you are current or late on your mortgage, if you meet the loan modification program guidelines and financially are facing hardship, you do in fact qualify for a loan modification. If you are missing mortgage payments, a loan modification can help get rid of those high late and legal fees, and help you stop foreclosure. If you are “on-time”, taking a look at a mortgage modification or loan workout may be in your best interest to help lower the amount you are paying each month and make your housing expenses more affordable.

So I may qualify for a loan modification. How can a loan modification help me? A loan modification can help you lower the amount you are paying each month on your mortgage through a decrease in your interest rate, payment, and possibly lower the amount you owe. Also, a loan modification can extend the number of years you have to repay your loan, and even help to forgive legal and late fees that may have been accrued. For more information on how a loan modification can help your financial situation, complete the application form on the top right of any page of this website! Apply now!

If your mortgage is currently held by Central Jersey FCU, we’d be happy to take a look and help you qualify for a loan modification under Making Home Affordable, and answer any questions that you may have!

The Central Jersey FCU loan modification process under Making Home Affordable is fairly simple, but there are a few pitfalls to avoid. The first step in getting a loan modification from Central Jersey FCU is to create a financial prospectus. A financial prospectus is merely a detailed list of all income, expenses, and assets.

When you have finished writing up your financial worksheet, it’s time to determine whether or not you qualify under the Making Home Affordable guidelines. A detailed post on Making Home Affordable Requirements & Guidelines can be found here.

Be sure that you read the above referenced post on qualifying for Making Home Affordable; often we are contacted by homeowners that have already presented information that precludes them from qualifying for a loan modification, and this makes it very, very difficult to get them the help they need.

Document your financial hardship and support your qualification for HAMP by gathering the following documents, which are required by the Central Jersey FCU:

• Hardship Letter
• Last 2 Years W-2s
• Last 2 Months Paystubs
• 3 Months of Bank Statements
• Last 2 Years Federal Tax Returns
• (If Self-Employed) 6 Month Profit & Loss Statement

Now that you have determined your eligibility, qualification, and gathered the required documentation, it’s time to contact Central Jersey FCU; they can be reached at (732) 634-0600 x 4132.

When you being speaking with a loss mitigation specialist, calmly and clearly convey the reason for your financial hardship, and explain that you qualify for the Making Home Affordable Program. Present your financial information, and submit the required documentation to Central Jersey FCU’s loss mitigation department. Clearly convey your intention to keep your home and your desire to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

Be sure to log all dates of submission of documents, and keep a conversation log of what has been said and when. Upon completion of the negotiation process, sign the loan modification agreement sent to you via mail, return, and enjoy the rewards of your hard work!

If your having a tough time getting a loan modification, and your mortgage is held by Central Jersey FCU, we’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have or even possible represent you. To get loan modification help, simply complete the quick application form on any page of this website, and an expert will contact you immediately!

Central Florida Educators (CFE) FCU is a Federal Credit Union specializing in retail banking in the Central Florida area since 1937. If your mortgage is currently held by CFEFCU and you are behind on your mortgage, or if you are worried about becoming behind and having trouble making your monthly payments, this information may help you.

Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union has accepted TARP Bailout funds from the Federal Government, and now participates in Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program. Making Home Affordable is a Government Program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and lower their mortgage payments through a process called loan modification.

A loan modification is the single best way to stop foreclosure and truly find financial stability; by definition, a mortgage modification is an agreement between borrower and lender to lower the payment of the borrower to an affordable amount, so both parties can avoid the cost and inconvenience of foreclosure.

Loan modifications can lower the interest rate of the existing mortgage, change the duration (number of years) of the loan, decrease the monthly payment, possibly decrease the total amount owed (principal balance) of the loan, forgive legal and late fees, and restructure overdue debt.

Loan modifications help many homeowners are able to lower their monthly mortgage payments by multiple hundreds if not thousands of dollars each and every month.

If your mortgage is currently held or being serviced by Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union, and you are looking for more information or help on getting a loan modification, we’d be happy to take a look at your case and help you qualify for a loan modification that meets Making Home Affordable Guidelines.  Apply here!

Quite obviously, the first step in getting a loan modification from CFE FCU is to determine whether or not you financially qualify for a loan modification. For more in depth information on how to qualify for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a detailed article can be found here, or additional guidelines can be found by visiting makinghomeaffordable.gov.

To determine whether or not you qualify for a loan modification, draw up a detailed list of all sources of income, each and every monthly expense, and total all available assets. Document the information that you are listing by gathering the documentation required by the Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union loan modification program, which is:

• Last 2 years tax returns
• 2 Years W-2s
• 2 months paystubs
• 3 months bank statements
• 3 month Profit & Loss statement (if self-employed)

Additionally, you will need to write a hardship letter; more information on how to write a hardship letter can be found here.

When you have gathered all the required documentation, created your financial prospectus and hardship letter, and made sure that the information you are presenting does in fact qualify you for a loan modification with Central Florida Educators FCU, now it is time to contact the loss mitigation department, which can be reached at (800) 771-9411 or (407) 896-9411.

Present the information that you have gathered above in a clear concise manner, and explain that you do in fact qualify for a loan modification under Making Home Affordable. Be sure to write down and log each and every date or notable event in the loan modification process, including the date and time of submission of documents, follow up calls, and expected time table.

A loss mitigation specialist will be assigned to negotiate the terms of your loan modification. When negotiating, re-iterate your intent to keep your home, your inability to make the current payment, and your ability to pay the lower payment that you are asking for. Stick to your guns, and don’t be tricked into agreeing to a higher payment than you can afford under program guidelines.

If at any point during the loan modification process you are having a tough time, and you want an immediate expert opinion, complete a contact form on the top right of each and every page of modificationzoom.com. We are happy to help you qualify for a loan modification and answering any questions you may have.

Let me start by saying if your mortgage lender is Carrington, you may be facing an uphill battle in getting them to modify your loan. Loan modification requests have often been arbitrarily declined in the past, and there exists a horrific track record of not diligently helping homeowners that qualify for assistance, although lately Carrington has shown some improvement in helping homeowners that are facing financial hardship.

A good deal of the loans currently held by Carrington Mortgage Services actually were originate by New Century, a loan servicer notorious for originating high interest rate subprime mortgages that set borrowers up for financial failure 2 or 5 years in the future.

Bruce Rose, CEO of Carrington Mortgage Services

The amount of dirt on Carrington Mortgage Services goes back years; here’s a previous entry I wrote about Carrington: Carrington Mortgage Loan Modification Epic Fail. Recently, Bruce Rose, CEO of Carrington was listed with NACA as one of their ten most wanted financial predators, and they have faced a number of lawsuits for unfair and deceptive business practices.

Rather than focusing on the bad however, let’s focus on the positive, and why you most likely are here; Let’s talk about how you can get a loan modification from Carrington.

Carrington participates in Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program. How does this help you? Well, HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) has set guidelines that make it easier for homeowners like yourself to get a loan modification that will allow you to afford your monthly mortgage payments.

We’ll get back to Making Home Affordable and qualification for this program in a minute. First things first, if you’re not familiar with what a loan modification is or the general process for getting one, I suggest you take a look at the Loan Modification Q&A here.

Getting a mortgage modification can help you in so many ways, and if you manage to wrestle a good loan workout from Carrington, you will probably reap the benefits of saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month as a result of lowering your monthly payments, interest rate, and possibly even the amount that you owe on your mortgage.

If you want to take the guesswork out of the loan modification process, and are having trouble getting a Carrington loan modification, complete the contact form to the right; we’ll call you immediately and coach you.

Prior to calling Carrington, which can be reached directly at either (800) 790-9502 or (877) 206-9904, be sure that you put together a hardship letter, as well as a detailed and complete list of all income, assets, and expenses. Take a look at the Making Home Affordable Guidelines here prior to submitting your package and make sure that you qualify.

Often, homeowners contact us that have already submitted financial information to their lender that does not qualify them for a loan modification, which makes it that much harder for us to qualify a homeowner that has already been declined.

When you are absolutely positive that you qualify for a loan modification and have completed your hardship letter and financial prospectus, begin gathering supporting documentation to reinforce your case: You will need a copy of 2 years W-2’s, 2 years tax returns, the last 2 months paystubs, 3 months bank statements, a the most recent copy of your mortgage statement or coupon.

Eventually these documents will be reviewed by a Loss Mitigation Specialist and / or Negotiator at Carrington, who will give a yea or nay on your loan modification request. It is very important to advocate for yourself, and negotiate the very best terms possible on your loan modification.

I hope this helps; if you are in need of professional assistance, any of us here at Modification Zoom would be more than happy to help you. More information on Carrington is posted here regularly so check back often, or subscribe to our rss feed for news and updates!