In the four years I have owned New Hope Mortgage Solutions I have been asked the same questions over and over again. Why can’t I do my own loan modification, and why do I need an attorney? Up until now I have been polite and keep pretty quiet in regards to my blog. Well my friends ……….no more! I cannot sit back and take it another day. Those who know me absolutely know me and that’s the truth!
There are so many answers to why a homeowner needs a licensed attorney within the state the home resides in, where do I begin? The fact that I have assisted in hundreds of permeate solutions for homeowners may have something to say for my experience. The major problem I see in the millions of homeowners trying to achieve a modification themselves is they have no idea what it takes to get one! They also are making a horrible mistake in assuming their lender is their friend, on their side, or are willing to just help them. People it doesn’t work that way at all! You are their investment, and that’s the end of the story! The answer to why professionals are achieving better results is quite simple if you think about it. Many people in the media and our government are trying to figure out why loan modifications are not working and it is really quite simple to figure out. Yet, here we are almost four years into this foreclosure mess and it’s as if we are all stuck on stupid.
One doesn’t have to look further than the mortgage servicing industry to get their answer.
Mortgage servicers left to their own device will do what is best for their bottom line and loan modifications cost money, time and headaches when done right. Especially due to the fact that not one servicer was or is adequately prepared to handle this foreclosure crisis. They are shifting employees around like clowns in a circus. Each time you call to discuss your major hardship, you are speaking to yet another person.
Simply put, unsupervised loan modifications that leave loan workout and foreclosure decisions up to mortgage servicers will not work. Homeowners do not have a chance going up against these money hungry powerhouses. For them to think they don’t need legal counsel is absolutely foolish. Banks are being sued, caught by attorneys that went in to negotiate the homeowner’s hardship, with perfect ratios as well as a perfect package. Still the banks have denied them. In turn that homeowner having an attorney actually allowed themto sue and win. The banks are giving hoeowners that qualify the bare minimum they can in relief. The only way to fight back is to have legal counsel on “your side”. This honestly isn’t rocket science.
I truly think it is time to for our government to get out of D.C. and take a “real” look at this mortgage crisis to see who is really in charge of cleaning up these mortgages right now. It is not our senate, it is not Sheila Bair and it is not Obama. It is the mortgage servicers who are in 100% control and operate like the mortgage mob in almost complete anonymity and secrecy.
My question to our government and the media is, “How can we expect them to do what is right, when they have been doing what is wrong for so long? Don’t you think that 2010 is the time to tighten the reign on this unregulated industry and force accountability on mortgage servicers who play a HUGE part in this foreclosure crisis?” I blame them for this mess one hundred percent. And now they want nothing to do with helping people out of it.
From no loan modification guidelines, no policies, no procedures, not enough staff, rude staff, missing staff, fired staff, lost faxes, lost emails, no return calls, 6-36 month loan modification process and this complaint lists can go on and on.
It’s the damn Wild, Wild Loan Modification West out there and the frontier is ruled by the pioneers of the game, lenders and mortgage servicers. You know those guys right? The dudes (banks and lenders) that had a HUGE part in where our economy is now, yeah them!
Yet, I am sure when you applied for your home mortgage, these lenders had procedures to follow, you had one friendly loan officer, no lost faxes, no lost emails, calls were returned promptly, 10-21 day close and you were treated like a rock star. Hell, you may have even got a fruit basket and some wine when you closed your loan.
And when you’re on time, you’re a king, but when you’re late, you are a peasant.
Excuse me, but something seems terribly wrong with this mortgage picture America. So, let me make it clear for you all. Lenders are liars, mortgage servicers suck and our government and media just doesn’t get it!
Disclaimer: Citi Mortgage seems to be only mortgage servicer that I feel is really trying to get loan modifications right.
The bottom line is there is fine print, even if you’re lucky enough to get a trail payment plan. If you mess up, or don’t read the documents correctly, sign the wrong paper, fill in the wrong numbers, without having a professional licensed attorney within the state you live in review them you are dead in the water if one thing is out of order on your end. ”Do it yourselfers” who want to save a buck, look around you; if the banks were helping homeowers wouldn’t this messed up situation be getting better and not worse? Get yourself an attorney and allow someone that knows the laws and what the Making Homes Affordable Program can do for you try to save your home. Don’t wait until you’re in default to get professional help. Those who have waited are the largest amount of people that have already lost their homes. Let’s get with it people this is “not” something you can handle. Do research, and realize these lenders are actually getting paid to put you in all these trail payment plans, yes every time they put you in them. Read the writing on the wall. We will evaluate your financial situation to see if you even qualify income, v/s expenses and mortgage payment.If you want to win then call the best Loss Mitigation Attorneys in the country and be successful. Isn’t that what you want to be successful? Call New Hope Mortgage Solutions today and allow the professionals to help you save the largest asset you have……..your home.
www.newhopemortgagesolutions.com
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Article written by Angella La Ricci Faimanifo
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PROFF ALL OVER THE INTERNET AND MEDIA SHOWING LENDERS AND SERVICERS WANT YOU TO FAIL AT GETTING THE MODIFICATION. YOUR FAILURE IS THIER GAIN.
Some Mortgage Servicers Are Setting Homeowners Up for Failure
by Moe Bedard on April 30, 2010
The latest foreclosure numbers are in and they’re not good. A record number of homes were foreclosed upon in the first few months of this year. This is despite billions of taxpayer dollars and promises by the mortgage industry to aid struggling homeowners.
A KING 5 investigation finds part of the problem lies with some of the people who are supposed to help you out. They profit if you fail.
The story of Washington National Guard Sgt. Tyler Hood may be an example of that.
He was dodging roadside bombs in Balaad, Iraq last summer unaware that a financial time bomb had starting ticking back at home.
Like many soldiers Sgt. Hood kept a large bank balance as a safety net for his young family in case the worst happened in the war zone.
It wasn’t until after he got home that Hood and his wife Melissa, also a National Guard Sgt., learned their new online banking service wasn’t paying their monthly mortgage.
“We missed payments. That’s our fault,” says Tyler Hood. “I just want to get back on track. We can afford our house. But the problem started when we started trying to make that up.”
The Hoods sent a check, they made calls, and they spent nearly three months trying to confirm they had pulled their mortgage out of default.
“They just assured me that everything was fine,” says Tyler Hood. “Then, a week a later we get our ten copies of foreclosure documents in the mail. It feels like they’re trying to steamroll you out of your house.”
It almost seemed as if the people that were supposed to help them wanted the Hoods to fall into foreclosure.
It may sound confusing, but it all adds up to Melissa Huelsman. The Seattle attorney and mortgage expert reviewed the Hood’s documents at the request of the KING 5 Investigators.
She tallied thousands of dollars in fees that were charged while the Hood’s home loan was in default.
“Mortgage loan servicers have a financial incentive to push to foreclosure because they make more money in the foreclosure process,” says Huelsman.
The loan servicer is the company that handles your payments and paperwork. It’s the middle-man between you and your lender.
Loan servicers now have a new and vital role processing homeowner’s requests for loan modifications and other tax-payer assisted help.
One of the largest is CitiMortgage, the Hood’s loan servicer.
In public relations campaigns, these companies claim they are working hard to help struggling homeowners.
A new government report tells a different story; that loan servicers are undermining modifications which take a lot of work and earn the servicer little profit.
The case of the Hoods, who had the money to pay their debts, may reveal the loan servicer’s perverse incentive to foreclose.
“Because they get paid to foreclose,” says Huelsman.
And they get paid in big numbers. The KING 5 Investigators sifted through CitiMortgage’s publicly available financial records. We found that CitiMortage made 90 million dollars in mortgage servicing late fees in 2007.
The following year, when more mortgages were melting down, that number grew to 123 million in late fees a nearly 40% increase.
Deborah Bortner of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions the agency received enough complaints that it pushed for a new law that now requires loan servicers to be licensed and regulated.
“Many of the loan servicers are serving just 10% or 20% of the people who call in and giving them a fair shake,” says Bortner.
But the new law only covers state-registered loan servicers. Big banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and US Bank all have loan servicing divisions. They generally service the loans of outside investors or lenders; in other words, loans where they don’t stand to lose if the mortgage goes into foreclosure.
The big banks, which own 70 percent of the loan servicing market, are federally regulated so they are beyond the reach of the State’s new loan servicing law.
That includes CitiMortgage, which earlier this year sent the Hoods paperwork showing that their home was sold at a foreclosure auction.
How much did Citi make off of fees in the Hood’s case?
“So the total charges by the time they were getting their notice of foreclosure was $3553.14,” says Huelsman.
“You start feeling hopeless, especially when everybody you talk to tells you it’s too late,” says Hood.
But is it too late?
After calls from the KING 5 Investigators and Huelsman, Citi now says it will try to keep the Hoods in their home.
Negotiations on just how to do that are under way.
A spokesperson for CitiMortgage, owned by parent company CitiGroup, did not reply to questions posed by the KING 5 Investigators. Mark Rodgers, director of Citi Public Affairs, did release the following statement:
“We cannot provide details about a specific customer’s account due to privacy restrictions. However, the sale of this property has been reversed, and it has been restored to its owners. We comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which provides certain financial and related protections to servicemembers on active duty. It is, however, incumbent upon borrowers to inform us and document their deployment for active duty, so we can avoid misunderstandings resulting from missed or short payments. We continue to work with the borrowers on this matter.”
The company did point to government reports showing that Citi is offering more temporary modifications than most other big banks.
