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We are not behind on our mortgage payments but we are having trouble coming up with the money every month because our business income has declined drastically. I called BofA and they said I qualified for the Making Home Affordable Plan and asked me to send in paperwork. I sent in all the required documents in late November (36 pages faxed, including bank statements, profit and loss statements, tax returns and a financial hardship letter). Has anyone had success with a a modification through Bank of America, and how long did it take?
Fari… what does weight loss have to do with it? Anyway….I do have great credit that is why I would like to know how long it takes before it will affect it.

Several issues here:

Is BofA the holder of the mortgage or merely the loan servicer?
– If they are holding the mortgage, then the answer on the modification can be within 6 weeks.
- If they are the loan servicer, then they have to get in touch with the holder of the mortgage (which is not as easy you think). Then, they have to work with the mortgage holder (which might be the U.S. Government, believe it or not), and find out what terms and conditions of a modification would be acceptable.

I am at my witts end with my ex. We have a 2 almost 3 year old daughter together. We split almost 2 years ago, in a nasty seperation he did everything he could to make my life as hard as possible on me. We had purchased a vehicle to better fit our needs with now 2 children (1 from prev relationship) which I had traded my old car in on. It was in his name due to my lack of obtained credit at a young age. We also shared a joint cell phone service in his name. After seperation he showed up in the middle of the night and took the only vehicle I had to use and turned off my cell phone, leaving me with no transportation or way of communication. When he was ready to talk he activated my phone and called. He told me that if I wanted a car back that I was to meet him at his attorney and sign an agreement he had written. If I took him to court he was taking everything from me, which would cause me to lose my job, and take me to court and fight to take our daughter from me due to my not being able to support her without a job, vehicle, etc. Balling my eyes out the whole time with his attorney I felt I had no option but to sign the agreement. While together he never wanted anything to do with our daughter ever. Per his agreement he gets my daughter from Thursday at 8pm-Monday at 8 pm one week and the next Fri-Mon and he pays no child support. It is written that if I have to work no one else can have her but him or his family. He lives at home with his parents, who support my daughter, and takes her from me every chance he gets. She has a steady routine while with me and he lets her stay up until 11 at night, tosses her around from family member to family member, and treats me terribly everytime we have to communicate. He has now been terminated from his job, cannot support her, does everything he can to make it hell on me to get her to him (intentionally driving hours away and not being home to make me drive farther to meet him.) I do not have a lot of money as I am raising my children on my own with no help from her "father".
I am in desperate need of an attorney and do not have $1,000s of dollars for one. His parents support him and her and fight for him and give him whatever he wants. They pay for his attorneys so he does not care about having to go to court. I feel so helpless and don’t know what to do. I have searched everywhere for pro bono attorneys or any help I can get and am not finding any! Does anyone know where I can get help? I am desperate!

Start calling.

http://www.usattorneylegalservices.com/free-legal-aid-Indiana.html

March of last year I lost my job through no fault of my own company went out of biz. I have a mortgage where my APR is 9%. In July I called Bank of America where I bank and ask about a refinance she said they cannot do one because one we owe 155k home is worth 120k and I am on unemployment. She did offer the making homes affordable program and switched me over to the loan modification dept. I talked to them and they took all of my income and expenses over the phone then they asked me to fax pay stubs, hardship letter, unemployment proff. they told me it will take 30-45 days to review the info. Did not hear anything from them and then I called on day 45 they said they are still reviewing it. I thought this was a wash, we have also made our payment on time every month. Then this last week Fed-ex showed up with an envelope with a one page letter from BoA letting us know what a trial payment will be our Original payment was 1600 trial payment is 1090 it also said in a few days you will get more details. Yesterday Nov 2 another package showed up from Fed ex this time a thicker package with a check list of more pay stubs, tax documents ect. This also had three cupons with a trial payment of 1077 one due Dec 1, Jan 1, Feb 1. I still have not paid anything for Nov yet. So i went online to make a Nov payment and it was blocked and said call #1866 as this account has a special curmenstance. I called them up talked to a rep they said you are now in a trial payment asked it they can set up an automatic payment for that I said sure they set it up to be drafted Dec 1st. I asked him about the Nov payment I have not made one yet he told me dont worry about it. I also asked about if this was going to hurt my credit score he told me there is no way shape or form it will hurt me credit score. Only way it will hurt your score if you dont pay your trial payment. I have been reading some people have been taking a hit on there credit even as they where told by there lender it will not. I recently got an offer from a credit card that gave me a 4.99% until balance is paid in full, they gave me a check to write out on my line of credit to my checking account this was 7k. I would hate for my loan company to put a late then my credit card would come back with the universal defuate clase and jack my APR up. Do you think they can disclose this in writting or record a conversation with them.
Any thoughts would be great.
Thanks

They did a forebearance, this is all perfectly normal. You do not have a payment for Nov, make the Dec one as agreed.

DO NOT mess up on any of these trial payments. This is your second chance, there won’t be another one.

After waiting for 15 weeks for my credit union to respond to my request for a modification and meeting all requirements for a hardship such as my mortgage is 45% of my income, husband passed away 2 yrs ago leaving me 0 and to fend for myself, son with epilepsy and Tourrette’s who is a huge burden and SSI has turned him down 3 times. I pay everything on time and am struggling to stay afloat. It really ticks me off that lazy good for nothings get assistance and sit on their asses watching there big screens while I stand on hard concrete for 8-10 hrs working so I can pay my bills. Something is SERIOUSLY WRONG with the making home affordable plan. It is not helping me because I have equity in my home but no cash flow.

If you have equity you modify your loan by refinancing it.

Modifications are for people who can not refinance and who are facing foreclosure.

You really should not complain about other people feeling entitled, it sounds like you are just like them.

We live in CA—We bought this house in 2004 for 399,000. There is 389,000 on the mortgage left the house is only worth 170,000 right now. I have 48,000 in revolving debt ( some of the property taxes , insurance , car repairs , couple funerals, and medical debt for the last 10 years added up).its on a PLOC and 2 cards. I see houses where we originally wanted to live (but couldn’t afford) for 130000-275000 and it burns me up. A principle interest taxes and insurance on my arm right now at 6% is $3,400 p month. We can only afford to pay 1500-2000 a month(pick a pay) so we usually send 1700(just pay taxes ourselves and insurance when due with defer interest totals at 28thousand and growing). BUT we net 5000 a month/ gross 7000. We are a family of six…drive 2 cars from the 80′s…plant a garden…use sweats and blankets to keep warm….both work …cheap used or free furniture nothing new…and are current on all our bills -credit is 720-750. We didn’t qualify for the home affordable modification (because my husband received a bonus of 150bucks two months ago registering an increase in income, not a loss, and because we are current) even though our payment is over 31% of our income. oh…and under 1000 in savings… HELP!! How do I get the affordable house where we REALLY planned to live(same city as our families) and dump this dead weight? Are just stuck here forever with a debt that is only going to increase over time till we owe a million
not that it maks that big a difference …but the 389,0000 balance includes the deffered interest. Our original loan was 360,000

Oh Jody, that is awful, I am so sorry you’re dealing with this. There are hundreds and hundreds of horror stories right now and no easy fixes, while the lenders continue to use and abuse us as consumers.

You could try calling 888 995 HELP for some guidance. Here’s the thing, debt consolidation is a bad hit to your credit, a loan modification is too, a short sale doesn’t sound too likely, however you could start the process by talking with your lender about it. Foreclosure and bankruptcy is an option, however both are severe and with the size of your family, you’d need a substantial place to live. But you may need to talk with a bankruptcy attorney.

Have you considered maybe renting it out to someone who can afford those payments for a couple of years? Or sell it on a contract for deed? Just a couple other options. You would still need to find a new place that you could afford.

I do wish you all the best. This isn’t a fun ride to be on.

A friend has been contacted by a private real estate investor offering to purchase her home. The letter was addressed to a mispelled version of her maiden name which is a little unsettling because both the mortgage and county records indicate her married name. Public property records refect her married name, indicating the person got her information from another source, such as a credit report.

My friend was behind on her payments, and this is likely the reason the investor sought her out.

I am suspicious that the investor’s information was illegally obtained. Mortgage account status is non-public information, but I believe that there are websites and other sources to get this info.

The investors offer to purchase the home a deep discount, far less than what is owed is counterproductive to the Obama Administrations Home Affordable Modification program, designed to keep people in their homes as well as a product of illegally obtained information.

Does anyone have any light to shed on this illegal information sharing between mortgage companies, creditors, and investors?

That information can be obtained from the 3 major credit reporting agencies. If she was behind on her payments to the point of a notice of default being filed, that is a matter of public records.

If you do not want your info sold by Experian, Trans-Union and Equifax, you can go to www.optoutprescreen.com and opt out. It’s like the do not call list. This will also reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

that only the Government can care for your needs? All the hype that the Financial Industry is "BAD" and needs to be tightly controlled? That only the Government has your best interest at heart?

This paragraph is from an article in today’s ( 7/24 ) US Today:

Despite the attention given to the federal government’s $50 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a program to lower monthly mortgage payments for five years, the majority of financially distressed homeowners are getting alternative modifications through their lenders without any government involvement. In 2010, servicers completed more than 800,000 alternative modifications with borrowers, according to Hope Now, a consortium of counseling agencies, servicers and investors. Since its start in spring 2009, HAMP has produced only 389,198 permanent modifications through June.

If my math is correct, it appears the private segment has DOUBLED in SEVEN MONTHS what the Government has accomplished in approx ONE + years. Does anyone who knows history honestly think the Government will handle ANY program better than the private sector? Honest question – what will it take to sincerely convince pro-government control advocates that someone sitting in Washington spending money in which they have no personal interest, making decisions for people they have no personal interest in, and having no need to at least break even from a financial point of view, is a good path for this country to take? Do you honestly believe every company in the country is corrupt and needs governmental oversight? Would appreciate comments based on facts, not emotions. Thanks.

It does not take an engineering degree to see how much better off European nations along with Canada are! Permitting big corporate concerns to run a country is about the same as permitting the Mafia to dominate the population; everyone suffers but the insiders.

The notion that the corporate interests are better at deciding for people than a government whose sole responsibility is the people borders on insanity! That your gang of Mafioso have been able to brainwash you is only indicative of how stupid such criminal propaganda makes the population!

When Congress enacted TARP, the hope was that injecting capital into hundreds of banks would spur lending and keep the economy from spiraling even deeper into recession.

But since then, lending to both consumers and businesses has continued to decline.

Earlier this month, the Treasury Department reported that the 22 banks that got the most aid from the government’s various bailout programs have cut their small business loan balances by $12.5 billion since April.

Barofsky, whose office has been closely tracking the evolution of TARP, also criticized the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

Even as Treasury allocated $35.5 billion towards that foreclosure-prevention program as of the end of last year, only 66,500 homeowners have received permanent modifications, with another 787,200 homeowners in trial modifications.

Still, there is no sign that the rate of foreclosures is slowing down anytime soon. Earlier this month, RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed homes, reported that foreclosure filings surged to a record 3 million in 2009, up 21% from 2008.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/31/news/companies/tarp_report/

Yet another of the long list of the dismal failures of the Obama Cabal.

Vote them OUT in November before they bankrupt our great country

Look, you have the government and a private bank counterfeiting trillions of dollars after none of the economists were even able to see this disaster coming. If people seriously can’t put two and two together, then this country is truly screwed beyond repair. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest fleecing in history.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/16/class-warfare-hundreds-pr_n_578015.html

Huge raucous crowds converged outside bank employees’ houses on Sunday afternoon to demand banks stop lobbying against Wall Street reform.

"Bank of America: bad for America!" shouted community leaders outside the house of Bank of America deputy general counsel Gregory Baer.

The Chicago-based grassroots organization National People’s Action, in coordination with the SEIU, bused more than 700 workers from 20 states to Baer’s neighborhood, one of the wealthiest corners of Washington. The action kicks off several days of protests targeting K Street for lobbyists’ role in financial reform.

Baer himself went unnoticed until a neighbor outed him. The mob booed loudly as he walked into his house. "I don’t have time for you," he said, according to Trenda Kennedy of Springfield, Ill. who used a bullhorn to tell the crowd about her trouble getting a mortgage modification from Baer’s bank.

Kennedy told HuffPost she’d been making reduced monthly payments thanks to a trial modification via the Home Affordable Modification Program. She said that when the bank turned her down for a permanent mod, she was told she still owed all the money she’d been paying during the trial. She said she’s been notified of several sheriff’s sale dates but has somehow managed to keep her home.

"Every time I’m inches away from losing my house, by some miracle it’s been pushed off," said Kennedy, who is a member of Illinois People’s Action.

Passersby and dogwalkers smiled at the sight of people gathered all over Baer’s lawn and blocking the road. Baer’s neighbor from across the street won little sympathy when he angrily yelled at protesters for waking up his two-year-old daughter. Kennedy was one of several people who used a bullhorn to tell personal bank horror stories.
Ed:

Your hearts in the right place but your deductions are erroneous. No, I am not talking about standing idly by while ordinary people are ripped off. The point of asking this question was twofold; the Americans haven’t forgotten the cause of our economic woes as many conveniently have in the UK and activism against the banks and the fouled up finace system is something the Americans are doing better than us. We Brit’s, after all, just elected the bankers’ lapdogs into government.

If the USA brings in Robin Hood tax then yes.

Why bankers are getting away with causing a global economic meltdown is beyond me. Tax the bankers, do not force the poor to pay for their mistakes!

the "Make Home Affordable" plan

I had a lot of trouble finding information about this and the treasury guidelines and government regulations were not that helpful. Countrywide didn’t have many answers either but I finally found a site that calculated whether I was eligible for the plan here:

www.homeaffordplan.com