Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

When to Hold and Fold When You're in Foreclosure

Most people facing foreclosure first experience a hardship that leaves them unable to pay their mortgage. The hardship is usually caused by loss of income, medical problems, divorce, or a family issue.

Whatever the cause, it's only a matter of time after you stop paying your mortgage before you lose your home through foreclosure. It could be many months or years, but it's eventually going to happen unless you reach a resolution with your bank.

And there are ways you to keep your home and solutions that allow you to exit your property under circumstances that are preferable to foreclosure.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, March 14, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] stop foreclosure, short sale, florida foreclosure attorney, foreclosure

If you're at risk of foreclosure, a loan modification is your best bet for keeping your home. It allows you to reinstate your loan with a lower payment and keep your property. That's a wonderful thing. The process of getting a loan modification, however, is frustrating and stressful for many homeowners who struggle to understand and complete their applications, then have it denied while the threat of losing their home looms.

What is a Loan Modification?

A loan modification is a permanent change to one or more of the terms of a mortgage loan such as the interest rate, length of the loan, and principal. They have existed for a long time, but have only recently been needed for millions of homeowners.

When the country was hit with the worst recession since the great depression and was hemorrhaging jobs, millions of homeowners became unable to pay their mortgages, and foreclosures started in unprecedented numbers.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Thursday, March 10, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure

As of this writing it's impossible to avoid hearing something about the 2016 presidential election wherever you go. It's on television, all over the web, and everyone is talking about it. Of all the topics the candidates have addressed in countless debates, rallies, and interviews, they never seem to talk about foreclosure and the housing market. Why?

Is it because foreclosure isn't a problem very many people are dealing with anymore? Hardly.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, March 7, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure

Home values have been rising and many borrowers are using the equity that's helped to give them to take money out of their homes with cash-out refinances. But they're choosing to take out much less than they could. People seem to have learned how drastically home values can drop and erase their equity and then some, and they don't want to be stuck in that situation ever again.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Friday, March 4, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, foreclosure, refinance

If you need help with your mortgage, there are government programs out there that may help you. But when it's all new to you, the programs can sound like an alphabet soup of acronyms that confuse and frustrate. For example, you may be able to use HARP or MHAs HAMP, but your RMA is likely to be denied if you DIY. All those letters leave me SMH (shaking my head), but before you LOL, get the 411 on one more.

HAFA, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, is meant to help borrowers who are not able to keep their home with a HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) or other modification. Mortgage loan modifications are a great option for borrowers who have the income to afford their home with a reduced payment.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Monday, February 29, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] HAMP, hamp loan modification, foreclosure, refinance, HAFA

Anyone who drives a car has noticed that gas prices are dramatically lower than they've been in years due to lower oil prices. While we're all happy that filling up our tanks is easier on the wallet, there is a down side: cheap oil can cause people who make a living in the oil industry to lose their jobs, and their homes to foreclosure.

When the price of oil plunges, companies in the oil business or businesses that service or support them, lay off some workers or pay them less. Those workers are more likely to be unable to afford their mortgages payments and fall into foreclosure. The oil business is employs a lot of people, so when it suffers, a lot of workers can suffer.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, February 24, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification lawyer, foreclosure, foreclosure grief

Goldman Sachs recently announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to pay $5.1 billion to settle an investigation by the government into its activities involving residential mortgage-backed securities in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

$1.8 billion of the money is supposed to go to providing consumer relief. Goldman's press release states:

"The consumer relief will be in the form of principal forgiveness for underwater homeowners and distressed borrowers; financing for construction, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing; and support for debt restructuring, foreclosure prevention and housing quality improvement programs, as well as land banks.”

[fa icon="clock-o"] Friday, February 19, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] loan modification, HAMP, foreclosure

The movie “The Big Short” was released over the holiday season to large audiences and critical acclaim. It tells the true story of some colorful traders and hedge fund managers who believed that the market in mortgage debt was set to collapse and of their quest to profit from it.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Tuesday, February 2, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] foreclosure, mortgage, the big short

On November 6, 2015, a Texas jury awarded Mary Ellen and David Wolf $5.38 million because Wells Fargo Bank and Carrington Mortgage services submitted forged documents to foreclose on the couple's home. You read that right, a $5.38 million settlement for one home! Journalist David Dayen points out that if you multiply that amount by the roughly six million homes that have been foreclosed since the financial crisis began in 2008, you get $32 trillion. Compared to the $25 billion the banks paid as part of the National Mortgage Settlement, and the continuing foreclosure fraud, it sure seems like the banks got off easy.

[fa icon="clock-o"] Wednesday, January 27, 2016 [fa icon="user"] Maxwell Swinney [fa icon="folder-open'] mortgage fraud, foreclosure

Foreclosure is so stressful that you'll find yourself experiencing powerful emotions when you are faced with it. Your home is the most expensive, and most important purchase you will ever make, so the possibility of losing it is tough to reckon with. How do people do it?

Foreclosure and Loan Modification Blog

When to Hold and Fold When You're in Foreclosure

Why Is It so Hard to Get a Mortgage Loan Modification?

What is a Loan Modification?

Why Don't Politicians Talk about Foreclosure and Housing Anymore?

Homeowners Cash in on Property's Equity When Refinancing

HAFA Could Help You Get You $10,000 and Avoid Foreclosure

Falling Oil Prices Means Rising Foreclosure In Some States

Goldman Sachs To Pay $5.1 Billion To Settle Mortgage Scandal Claims

“The Big Short” Explains Foreclosure Crisis With Humor

Family Gets $5M From Wells Fargo For Robosigned Foreclosure Docs

The 5 Stages Of Foreclosure Grief

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