Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

6 Ways to save Money When You're Behind on Your Mortgage

If you've fallen behind on your mortgage, it's a good idea to save some extra money to help you get through whatever solution you eventually reach and your life afterward.

No matter what happens, whether it's the best case scenario, like a loan modification with a big principal reduction and low monthly payment and interest rate, or the worst, like losing your home to foreclosure, having a bigger financial cushion is always a good thing.

You can never have too much money. (If you can, that's the kind of problem we'd all like to have.)

Americans aren't the best savers in the world. 1 in 3 Americans has no retirement savings, and many households don't have enough cash savings to survive a $500 emergency, much less a mortgage crisis that costs tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The good news is that just about anybody can save some money with a little bit of effort. Here are a few suggestions on how to do that.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Saturday, May 13, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, personal finance, loan modification cost

Disclaimer: These results should not be taken as a guarantee, as each case is unique. We have helped over 7,000 homeowners, here is one of their stories.

In March 2014 we were hired by a homeowner in Trenton NJ, whom I'll call Ramon Delgado to protect his privacy, who needed help saving his home from foreclosure.

Mr. Delgado, like most homeowners, didn't want to default on his mortgage with Citi, but a significant loss of income forced him into a situation where he couldn't make his house payments.

He was able to recover from his hardship and regain the ability to pay his mortgage. However, after falling so far behind, Citi didn't want him to resume making regular mortgage payments. They wanted a big check for all the missed payments plus fees, which he didn't have the cash to do. So he remained in default even though he could have made payments. This is a common scenario.

Loan modification denied because of “complete” application scam?

Loan modifications, which involve a permanent change to one or more of the terms of a mortgage, are often the only means homeowners who've fallen behind on their mortgage have to save their home. But they are quite difficult to get, and sometimes the bank denies that they've received a complete loan modification application, depriving the homeowner of vital protections against foreclosure.

To be eligible for a loan modification, a package called a Request for Mortgage Assistance, or RMA, must be submitted to the mortgage servicer. The RMA includes tax and income documents as well as an affidavit explaining the hardship that caused the default.

Your mortgage company is not supposed to move forward with foreclosure when you have a complete loan modification application accepted and under review. Doing so would be engaging in something called dual-tracking, which is prohibited by mortgage servicing rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, April 25, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, Scam Alert, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud

In late 2016 our firm was retained by a homeowner I'll call Juan Wilson to protect his privacy. Juan owned a home in Orange County, Florida. A truck driver, Juan encountered financial difficulties and prioritized payment on his truck over his home, defaulting on his mortgage in 2015.

There's a saying that goes “you can sleep in your car, but you can't drive your house to work.” That was doubly true of Juan since he made his living with his truck, and without it he wouldn't have the income to pay any bills.

Not paying his mortgage may have been the lesser of two evils, but it came with serious consequences. After not receiving their mortgage payments Juan's bank, Wells Fargo, started trying to foreclose. He was served with a summons and complaint in April of 2015 and made the mistake of not responding to it or raising any defenses.

CoreLogic Releases 10-year Retrospect of The Foreclosure Crisis

10th anniversaries are traditionally celebrated with gifts of tin or aluminum. But for the 10th anniversary of the foreclosure crisis, real estate data and analytics company CoreLogic has released a report analyzing a decade of foreclosures. How romantic! CoreLogic knows us so well.

It's called “10-year retrospect of the U.S. residential foreclosure crisis”. It shows that the housing market has improved dramatically from the worst of the crisis and “started to normalize, recording approximately 22,000 completed foreclosures a month.”

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, April 5, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, foreclosure crisis

You've only got one family, and supporting them when times are tough is the right thing to do. After all, they'd do the same for you.

But what if a member of your family has a problem that's too big for you to solve, like difficulty with their mortgage?

Over the past decade millions of people have been in just that situation. Since the Great Recession began, seven million homes have been in foreclosure! That's a lot of affected families.

And the foreclosure crisis isn't over. There are still thousands and thousands of homeowners either in foreclosure or on their way to it.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, March 9, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure defense, foreclosure

If you live in a judicial foreclosure state and stop paying your mortgage, you will eventually become the defendant in a civil lawsuit.

The plaintiff, which is the party suing you, must go through the court system in order to foreclose on your house. But who will the plaintiff be?

It could be one of a few different parties or some combination of them. It could be the investor in your loan, your loan servicer, or a trustee that represents the parties with an interest in your mortgage.

Let's examine who those parties are, and what it means for you when fall behind on your mortgage.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Friday, February 17, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, foreclosure lawsuit

If you fall behind on your FHA-insured mortgage loan, you might be able to get help from something called a partial claim payment, which is a loan from HUD paid to your lender to avoid foreclosure.

To be eligible for a HUD partial claim you must have missed at least four payments, but no more than 12. And you have to show that you'll be able to pay your mortgage after the claim is paid, and that you will use the property as your primary residence.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, February 8, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, HUD, partial claim

When you're at risk of foreclosure, you can't make good decisions about what to do without good information. And sometimes the people you trust most to give you accurate information can't be counted on to provide it.

It's unfortunate, but the banks and companies offering to help homeowners with foreclosure defense and loan modifications have been known to lie and/or omit important facts in a way that benefits them and harms the homeowner.

The consequences of acting on bad advice related to your mortgage can have a huge impact on your financial well-being. It can harm your credit and cause you to unnecessarily lose your home to foreclosure. Foreclosure has even been shown to cause health problems. It's a big deal.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, January 31, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure, loan modification fraud, foreclosure fraud

Dealing with your lender on your own when you're behind on your mortgage payments is like going to war against an opponent who has nuclear weapons and all you've got is a rusty pocket knife. Things aren't likely to go well for you.

Why is that? Your lender has a lot of resources, including loads of money and experienced attorneys working for them. But beyond that, some mortgage lenders and servicers have repeatedly shown a willingness to bend or break rules, laws, and standards of ethics in order to foreclose.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, January 26, 2017 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure, loan modification fraud, foreclosure fraud, free house, mortgage abuse

Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

6 Ways to save Money When You're Behind on Your Mortgage

Citi Denied a Loan Modification for Years until We Demanded Fair Treatment

Loan modification denied because of “complete” application scam?

Not Answering Summons and Complaint Made It Easier for Wells Fargo to Set Foreclosure Sale Date

CoreLogic Releases 10-year Retrospect of The Foreclosure Crisis

How Do You Help a Family Member in Foreclosure?

Who Is The Plaintiff In The Foreclosure Lawsuit Against You?

Could A HUD Partial Claim Help You Avoid Foreclosure?

2 Ways Bad Information Can Drive You Into Foreclosure

4 Dirty Tricks Mortgage Lenders Use To Foreclose On Your Home

About this Blog

Subscribe to Email Updates

Lists by Topic

Foreclosure Process Handbook

Sitemap

Subscribe

Recent Posts

Contact Us

Call (877) 882-5338

Fax: (954) 919-6337

View our Office Locations