Home Affordability -` Did Anyone Have Luck With It?

[AnnaNova]

so we tried to apply for 'making home affordable" thing due to my husband's decreased income...
first we called our mortgage company and they said they dont participate in it. we then called the home affordability program and they said it was illegal for our mortgage company to say that, they got us on a conference call with the mortgage company, and they said they'd send us paperwork ... they did so after 2 phone calls with reminders.
we got all the required info and filled out paperwork and mailed it to them. they said it would take about 60 days to process. we called a couple of times to check on it and were told its still in process.
now, about 60 days later we received a letter saying our mortgage was sold / transferred to a different company ... and in their FAQ section it says that if we were in the process of applying for the program, we have to start it all over with this company...
what kind of weird game is that? are they gonna keep reselling our mortgage now ever 60 days?
has anyone had success with this?
i read somewhere on the news that *surprisingly* not many people have taken advantage of the program... ha, i wonder why...

[Fuamami]

Yes, sort of!

We applied for an in-house mod in June, and have been waiting for an answer ever since. We had to re-fax our paperwork quite a few times, almost every month, but finally they came to a decision, which was that we were denied. So they transferred me to their "imminent loss" department, who could somehow magically over the phone get us approved for a trial modification where our payment would be $1k less than it currently is and if we make all the trial payments on time, it will be our payment for 5 years.

This happened right before Xmas, so we haven't got the paperwork yet, but are waiting for it.

I would recommend going to www.loansafe.org. They have a pretty good forum, though I felt there were some "crackpots" on there. I hope it's okay to post that!

[Porcelain Interior]

There's a thread around here somewhere about this...

I did get a home loan modification through my lender, and it was a bit of a pain.

Lots of people have tried to get into the program, but lenders haven't made it very easy. If I were you I would reapply (hopefully you saved your hardship affidavit and other papers so you won't have to totally redo them) with the mortgage company you've been sold to asap.

I'm sorry that it's not going smoother for people.

[VisionaryMom]

I've seen quite a few articles saying that only about 2% of people who need it are getting approved. It doesn't make sense in any way for the mortgage companies other than obstinance. A foreclosure isn't good for them either, so why not try to make things work?

[amyamanda]

I heard that the banks will benefit more from a different deal with the gov't where they will get more money if people default on their loans (than if they help them through this home affordable process.) So the banks are financially motivated to let people default. I do not know if this applies to all banks or only the big banks. Sad.

We were in that 2% and got our modification done early in the program, but we have a Freddie Mac loan serviced by a local bank, and the local folks were not overwhelmed with requests when we applied. However, their process was still shaky and screwed up with mistakes and misinformation (as frustrating on their end as on ours). I feel very lucky that we got it.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by BrandiRhoades

I've seen quite a few articles saying that only about 2% of people who need it are getting approved.

From what I have read on the Internet, you need *media coverage* of your situation to get the approval. Eventually, though, I think they will help more than 2% of the applicants.

[swsoup]

Try Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) www.naca.com. And, here is a fantastic forum to help navigate the process with specific lenders: www.loansafe.org.

Good luck!

[AnnaNova]

thanx for the links, i will check them out for sure...
and 2% and thats all???? wow, then i guess its worse than i thought...
i mean when we called our mortgage company asking about it they were almost hostile... and then when the program support rep called on conference call with us, it was 100% different. and thats very sad. wouldnt we all do better including banks and mortgage companies if more of us could afford to pay bills? agh...

[heatherweh]

Nope. Our home value has fallen 150% or something, so we literally have lost our life savings which we had used as a downpayment plus are totally upside down on our mortgage. If we sold our house now I guess we'd have to pay someone to take it, with what money I don't know. The plan for refinancing only helps people whose home value has fallen 10% or less (or was it 5%? in any case, some very small amount).

We started the process in November 2008 and fought for it for well over one year. Our mortgage company is Fannie Mae and according to the specifications we should have qualified for a modification. They ignored us, transferred us in the phone system, hung up on us, lost our paperwork, asked us to fill it out long personal information online, then lost it, then did the app over the phone, then lost it, then told us it had to be done on paper by mail. We were approved for a lower mortgage on a 3 month trial basis, which worked great, then got a nasty warning letter saying we were late on our mortgage since we hadn't paid the full amount for the past three months (as directed by the loss mitigation department) and demanding a payment of the difference plus some fees, etc. Great. Fought it then paid it. Were told that program was no longer being used but we could try for a new program. Tried the new program and were told we should be approved and then somehow "the computer system says you don't qualify", can't tell you why it looks like all the numbers should add up and you should qualify, but the computer says you don't so you can't.

Our neighborhood was hit hard with foreclosures, short sales, and falling home values. I've seen a lot of good people lose their homes and shady investors buy them sight unseen and then move many families in to rent it. None of my neighbors have had any luck except one who contacted Freddy Mac directly and her senator to get things moving.

[PenelopeJune]

I have nothing good to say about banks or mortgage companies. I think they are little better than thieves. Actually, I would prefer to be straight-up robbed, it would be more honest.

We didn't qualify for any programs. Why, I have no idea. But we have lost our house. Well, actually, the bank is debating whether or not they will accept a short sale, a CASH offer, and they are dillydallying so much I think our buyers are going to walk. I cannot for the life of me understand this.

[Norasmomma]

This is the song and dance they all are doing. Losing paperwork, jumping through impossible hoops, then being told you don't qualify for a bunch of BS reasons. I've said it before I think the thing is a total scam. I absolutely have a serious hatred for my mortgage company, there are pages and pages on other forums telling stories of how bad they are to deal with, especially when it comes to the HAMP program. Luckily we did get an in-house mod dropping our interest rate 3/4 of a percent, which dropped our payment by 140 a month, definitely helpful. I also got a call from them saying I was eligible for another mod, but IDK if I trust them, I told the guy on the phone what a complete nightmare their company is to deal with, we've been lied to, hung up on and treated like complete crap. I really think that they are being told to treat people like this to screw them over, it just seems like that is the story, not "oh yeah I got a mod and it was easy". Most people just aren't getting them or anything.

[mnnice]

[QUOTE=heatherweh;14855880]Nope. Our home value has fallen 150% or something, so we literally have lost our life savings which we had used as a downpayment plus are totally upside down on our mortgage. If we sold our house now I guess we'd have to pay someone to take it, with what money I don't know. The plan for refinancing only helps people whose home value has fallen 10% or less (or was it 5%? in any case, some very small amount).

I'm not trying to be snarky, but I am confused? Your house is currently worth less than zero?

[Fuamami]

Our home value has dropped 100K in the last two years. I think that if you are NOT upside down, they are not going to want to work with you. If they can sell the house and recoup their loss, that's going to be their best option.

OP, do you have PMI?

[AnnaNova]

Originally Posted by Fuamami

Our home value has dropped 100K in the last two years. I think that if you are NOT upside down, they are not going to want to work with you. If they can sell the house and recoup their loss, that's going to be their best option.

OP, do you have PMI?

PMI? didnt get that abbereviation... but then again, its like 7 am and im not fully awake yet...

[Porcelain Interior]

Originally Posted by Fuamami

Our home value has dropped 100K in the last two years. I think that if you are NOT upside down, they are not going to want to work with you. If they can sell the house and recoup their loss, that's going to be their best option.

OP, do you have PMI?

Our home value went from $305,000 (at the peak) and now sits realistically at about $200,000 as a selling price today. We owe $160. We bought low and then the values exploded.

We got a modification.

So I think it's more about "can you even make a mortgage payment?" than being in an upside down loan, if you're too far gone they won't work with you. If you're not in any danger at all they won't work with you.

And I've said it before, I honestly don't think this program is a scam, but I do think lenders are for some reason not interested in helping their customers get into the program. It's the middle man here that's at fault. (Your lender.)

All these lenders gave loans and homes to many people they probably shouldn't have. (Not talking about anyone in this thread- just nationwide in general.) They took serious risks (us-the people took serious risks), I think the lenders want to cut and run- just like a lot of homeowners are doing.

I just wish the program would work with the people that are doing the right thing here. I thought that's what it was designed to do.

[Pepper44]

This is slightly different because we aren't in a dire situation, but we went to a mortgage broker who was able to totally refinance our house in a week to a super low interest rate and that dropped our payments by quite a lot of money. Our house was re-appraised a lot below what we paid for it too, which stung.

I highly recommend finding a good mortgage broker. Ours does everything for us and quickly! He answers any questions we have accurately and he has lawyers on his staff that he can consult for us. He was able to get us the mortgage for this house when my DH only made $9,000 a year! (That was about four years ago.) We didn't use any government programs or anything complicated.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by AnnaNova

PMI? didnt get that abbereviation... but then again, its like 7 am and im not fully awake yet...

PMI is insurance that's required by your lender as part of your mortgage if you put less than 20% down on your house. It's part of your mortgage payments.

If you have PMI on your account, it protects the lender against your default--basically if the bank forecloses on your house and sells it, and sells it for less than the remaining amount of your mortgage, the insurance company pays the bank the difference. So, if you have PMI, the bank really isn't all that worried about having to foreclose on you even if the market in your area currently sucks. They're protected against any monetary loss in that situation.

[AnnaNova]

Originally Posted by cschick

PMI is insurance that's required by your lender as part of your mortgage if you put less than 20% down on your house. It's part of your mortgage payments.

If you have PMI on your account, it protects the lender against your default--basically if the bank forecloses on your house and sells it, and sells it for less than the remaining amount of your mortgage, the insurance company pays the bank the difference. So, if you have PMI, the bank really isn't all that worried about having to foreclose on you even if the market in your area currently sucks. They're protected against any monetary loss in that situation.

i have no idea, but i will find out!!!! my husband bought this house before we got married so i dont know all the details. i believe he did put down about 20% of the cost... but ill make sure

[Meems]

I went through the process, was told we were "approved", had to fax about a million pages of info to them... and then told that our "emminent default" was expired so we'd have to start the process over with. I talked to so many people, they even put me on w/ the irate customer person. Then next week, my loan was sold Disgusting.

[AnnaNova]

Originally Posted by AnnaNova

i have no idea, but i will find out!!!! my husband bought this house before we got married so i dont know all the details. i believe he did put down about 20% of the cost... but ill make sure

c
checked with my husband, no we dont have pmi...
my husband called the home affordability program yesterday and relayed the situation to them, they told us to just keep calling them every few weeks and bug them about the progress... (insert a deep sigh here)... were are not in the situation where we'd have to foreclose the house, but thats where about 80 percent of our income is going... we had some unplanned major expenses this year and my husband had to cash out his 401k when he switched jobs, otherwise we wouldnt have made it... so i dont think anyone will let us refinance the house at this point...