Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 5,000 homeowners, here is one of their stories.

Like many other households, one Pennsylvania household had suffered a lot over the past several years. The economy had taken a major toll on the life of their family. Both the husband and wife had lost their jobs in the late '00s, and they had never quite been able to get back on their feet, even after going through bankruptcy. The last thing they wanted to do was to lose their family's beautiful home because they couldn't pay their $2,000 monthly mortgage payment to Chase, or their $2,000 secondary mortgage payment to Sekure Mortgage (SFC). They had already tried to get a loan modification on their own when paying the mortgage became a bit too hard, but were unsuccessful in that endeavor, as were many other homeowners.

Experiencing temporary or long-term hardship or receiving a foreclosure notice is not a death notice for your house.There are a wide range of options available for homeowners who are in financial trouble.

Cats can't save your home, but the tactics below can!

Although foreclosure laws vary from state to state, most states require that the lender file a lawsuit with the circuit court in the county that the property is located. As a result, the homeowner will receive a notice of lawsuit. Once the homeowner receives this notice, it's imperative that he or she speak to legal foreclosure counsel, or else they are most likely already in over their heads. Even with this information, some homeowners choose to represent themselves and quickly discover their inability to navigate toward a favorable outcome in the legal process.

The unofficial definition of a deficiency judgment, sometimes called a mortgage deficiency judgment, could be something like: “…When your former mortgage lender won’t let you go.” Unfortunately, the real answer is a little more complicated.

If the unthinkable happens and you lose your home to foreclosure sale, there could be two outcomes. The first outcome is that the lender receives the amount of money you owe on the mortgage. In a perfect world, your house is worth $100,000 and it sells at foreclosure auction for at least $100,000, then your mortgage lender is just a bad memory (maybe).

If you were to believe everything you've ever heard, stepping on a crack would result in your mother's broken back, and you'd be more golden than King Midas based on all the pots you would have collected at the end of rainbows. However, these myths are just like many of the foreclosure myths, simply untrue. Recognizing some of the crazier myths has always been easy, but many of the foreclosure myths seemingly have merit. In the quest for the truth, some of the most common foreclosure myths are put to the test. In true myth buster fashion, the following information features foreclosure myths tested, tried, and ultimately debunked.

MYTH #1

My credit will be damaged forever.

Although a foreclosure will have a negative effect on your credit score, you can recover. Today's borrowers can be approved for FHA loans in as little as one year after a foreclosure. However, you can't have any other derogatory marks on your credit report at the time.

By John Voket, RISMedia Columnist

In a previous segment, I touched on several options for mortgage holders who are underwater. Then I ran across some particularly timely information courtesy of Anna Kerr of Refinanceitt.com, an online refinance loan company in Schaumburg, SC.

Kerr says if you are lacking behind in the mortgage and are not able to qualify for loan modification or some other kind of payment, you should opt for mortgage modification.

Home loan modification permits the consumer to interact with the lender and avail the desired loan terms and conditions. According to Kerr, you can state your preferences, which will enable you to pay the loan with ease and comfort.

She says chances are the lender will either decrease the mortgage modification rate, which will in turn decrease your payment per month, or give an extension in the loan term and be assured that the dues are included in the main balance of the loan.

Kerr says you begin by calling up the lender or the present mortgage service provider who has been given rights by your lender. Before contacting your lender, however, keep in mind three important things.

Here's something that probably didn't make your local news: David J. Stern, the so-called "Foreclosure King" will more than likely lose his law license and will have to pay a $50,000 fine to the Florida Bar. This follows an extensive investigation and civil suit from the Florida Bar Association. While the fact is that this is the only court decision against Stern himself thus far (his companies, however, have been sued several times, and one of his companies is in the process of suing Stern for $60,000,000) surely pleased Stern, the big banks, and their cronies, it's a slap in the face to every homeowner in the nation, not to mention the homeowners in the Sunshine State who were torched by his firms' actions. 

Who is David J. Stern?

If you're not familiar with David J. Stern and the impact he's had on the state of Florida, imagine if most of the court cases in one state (the nation's 4th most-populated state, at that) were controlled by a single law firm. Now imagine if this law firm was run in the most greedy and apathetic, but least efficient manner possible. Imagine that this law firm found several ways to make a mockery of everything the legal system stands for- from missing court appearances, to forging important documents, to blatantly disregarding the most basic laws that applied to its cases. Then imagine if these improprieties didn't only cost years worth of time and resources for the legal system and the taxpayers that finance it, but they also cost thousands and thousands of families their homes and livelihoods.

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 5,000 homeowners, here is one of their stories.

This New Jersey homeowner was picking up the pieces after a divorce and could no longer afford his home. Worse, he missed out on a previous loan modification offer from Bank of America due to confusion about the documents he received. By the time he retained us in June 2013, he was already 39 months behind on his monthly mortgage payment of $2,701.43, and was in grave danger of foreclosure. Who's to say why Bank of America hadn't filed the foreclosure lawsuit yet, but after 3 years of missing mortgage payments, it is inevitable.

Immediately after the homeowner signed his retainer agreement, we began working with him to gather documents that are necessary to create a new loan modification package. This diligent homeowner was so organized that we were able to submit his loan modification package to Bank of America by the start of the following month, July 2013. After 3 months of staying on top of Bank of America's notoriously flaky loan modification department, we obtained a permanent loan modification offer from Bank of America. His payment would be lowered by over $450 monthly to $2,244.48 and his interest rate would be dropped from 5.50% to 4.75%. Best of all, the loan modification took about 3 months to complete, even with Bank of America's terrible record of helping troubled homeowners, and the threat of foreclosure on his home had been completely avoided.