Archive | Keep My Home RSS feed for this section
Chase Plans Foreclosure Prevention Events
Over the next five months, up to 40 Chase counselors will work with homeowners as long as 12 hours a day for four or five days in a central location, like a civic center or community college. Many of the counselors are based in the 51 Chase Homeownership Centers across the country. Come see if one of the sessions is nearby you...
Continue reading...Underwater? Thinking About a Strategic Default?
10. May 2010
If you're severely underwater on your mortgage, it’s likely you’ve considered stopping your mortgage payments and letting the bank foreclose on you. If so, you’re not alone by any stretch of the imagination. I discovered a program today that might make it easier for you to decide to stick it out.
Continue reading...Is My Hardship Severe Enough to Save My Home From Foreclosure?
3. May 2010
With more and more people dealing with potential real estate hardship, it's important for you to understand what it is and how you might possibly find relief--that is, if you can qualify for it. Come find out if the bank's definition of hardship is the same as yours...you might be surprised...
Continue reading...11 Ways to Keep Someone from Stealing Your Home
26. April 2010
Being behind on your bills is probably a new experience for you. It's normal to feel overwhelmed and not know what to do. When someone offers help...especially easy help, you want to believe what they're saying is true and that they can solve your problem. The truth is, some of them can help you...but some of them are only claiming they want to help you when they really want to scam you out of your home. So what should you do? How can you tell the difference?
Continue reading...10 States Now ‘Hardest Hit’ and Get Additional Foreclosure Relief Funds
12. April 2010
Last month, I wrote 5 Hardest Hits States Get More Money, which described the Treasury Department’s plan to give more financial assistance ($1.5 Billion more to be exact) to the five hardest hit states. After a month of campaigning for their states, five more states have been added to the list and will share $600 million of the $1.5 Billion. Come see if your is one of them and what it means for you and your home.
Continue reading...FHA Will Now Do a Short Refi — If You Haven’t Missed Payments
31. March 2010
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is making some changes to its existing refinancing program guidelines to allow more lenders to perform mortgage principal write-downs for underwater homeowners in mortgages not currently insured by FHA.
Continue reading...Plenty of Loopholes in New HAMP Writedown Plan
30. March 2010
If you’re more than 15% underwater on your mortgage and are eligible for HAMP, you could benefit from changes that will hopefully motivate lenders to writedown more principal in more cases. The changes will require all servicers to consider an alternative modification approach which includes writedown of some principal for loans that are over 115 percent of the current value of the property (LTV).
Continue reading...Details of HAMP Forbearance for Unemployed Released
29. March 2010
The administration released the details of their new Temporary Assistance for Unemployed Borrowers last week. Here are the highlights....
Continue reading...5.66 Percent of Eligible Mods Go Permanent
25. March 2010
5.66% of eligible mods were permanent in January according to the Treasury Dapartment. GMAC leads the pack at over 19% and Wachovia is in last place according with 1.39%. Check out how your lender is doing...
Continue reading...7 Fatal HAMP Flaws – Why Servicers Won’t Modify Your Mortgage
22. March 2010
If you’ve been struggling with your lender to get a Home Affordable Loan Modification, the fact that a measly 5% of ‘eligible’ homeowners (170,000 to be exact) have actually entered into a long term modification plan with their lender won’t come as surprise. It’s likely that your effort has drug on for months or, worse, you’ve been denied one or more times just to be told to reapply. Why is this? Well, as it turns out and we’ve reported before, there are actually 7 major flaws with HAMP that put its success in jeopardy and act as disincentives to lenders and servicers.
Continue reading...New Proposal: Guaranteed Forbearance for the Unemployed
15. March 2010
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced it has developed a concept for a new MBA Logo forbearance program that would allow qualified borrowers who had lost their jobs to remain in their homes while they seek new employment. According to the proposed program, loan servicers would reduce the borrower's mortgage payment to an affordable amount for up to nine months while the homeowner looked for employment.
Continue reading...The Standard Second Mortgage Modification Process
12. March 2010
Ever wondered how your lender decides how to modify your second mortgage in a HAMP modification? It's complicated and intricate, but we pulled this step-by-step guide off their administration website for your reference.
Continue reading...HAMP for 2nd Mortgages
11. March 2010
Under 2MP, when your first lien is modified under HAMP and the servicer of the second lien is a 2MP participant, that servicer must offer either to modify your second lien or agree to extinguish it. Come see if your second mortgage is eligible.
Continue reading...States Hardest Hit by Foreclosure Get More Money
10. March 2010
The Obama Administration released the next steps in the recently-announced Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets ("HFA Hardest-Hit Fund"). States where house prices have fallen more than 20% from their peak will share $1.5 billion in funding. Those states are ...
Continue reading...HAMP Trial Plan Fraud: What Can You Do?
9. March 2010
Have you been offered a trial plan from your lender through HAMP? Did you complete all your trial plan payments but now your lender isn’t doing what you thought they agreed to do? What options do you have? Can you make them perform?
Continue reading...Using a HOPE Now Counselor Makes Your Mod Go Faster
4. March 2010
HOPE LoanPort gives HUD-approved counselors the ability to submit completed Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) applications directly to a homeowner’s servicer, and the Web portal allows counselors to track the status of the application in order to provide borrowers with more timely decisions. What's this mean for you and your home?
Continue reading...Foreclosures Take 12 Months on Average
3. March 2010
Several new proposals have made their way to the President to help you save your home from foreclosure. These are all proposals, but some of them will probably make it to law…only question is how long before they do. They include a 30 day HAMP appeal period and a possible re-working of the Net Present Value model.
Continue reading...Documenting Irregular Income for a Mortgage Modification
2. March 2010
I’ve been asked many times what you should do if you have irregular income and you’re applying for a loan modification. How should you report it in the forms to accurately reflect your situation.
Continue reading...President Obama Considering National Foreclosure Ban
1. March 2010
President Obama and his administration are floating an idea to prohibit lenders from foreclosing on a home unless the borrower has been considered for the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)...
Continue reading...Your To-Do List for a Permanent Mortgage Modification
26. February 2010
The Making Home Affordable people just released a video about what steps you need to take to obtain a permanent mortgage modification. Come watch it and share your thoughts! We've also included direct links to some of the most important and relevant resources we've found.
Continue reading...More Money to Save Mortgages on the Way
24. February 2010
President Obama is announcing $1.5 billion in funding for innovative measures to help families in the states that have been hit the hardest by housing market stress and unemployment. States where house prices have fallen more than 20%. The $1.5 billion fund will be available for State Housing Finance Agencies and similar organizations to develop innovative programs help address the problems facing their communities. Come read the rest of the prepared White House release.
Continue reading...Foreclosure Assistance Programs by State
22. February 2010
I found this list of state housing agencies. I haven't checked to see if each state has a foreclosure assistance program, but if you’re looking for assistance from your state, here’s where you can start. All 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are listed below in alphabetical order.
Continue reading...You’ve Been Turned Down for HAMP…Now What?
17. February 2010
I’ve been hearing from a lot of people lately that have been turned down for for a Home Affordable Modification Program mod. The reasons vary and some lenders won’t even give reasons. But did you know you can ask your lender to reconsider your modification request? And in some circumstances they’re actually required by law to reconsider your application.
Continue reading...Will You Qualify for a Loan Mod?
15. February 2010
When you’re beginning your research into whether or not your loan can be modified, it’s very hard to get anyone to let you inside the numbers at the bank. But without out some help, you could waste a bunch of time and energy…and your family’s hope…trying to secure a modification you’ll never get.
Continue reading...HAMP Switches Gears…Away from Mods to “Avoiding Foreclosure”
11. February 2010
According to the Obama Administration, HAMP's not about modifying loans! They're more concerned with helping homeowners "avoid foreclosure." With a paltry 66,000 loans permanently modified through the end of December, it sounds like the administration is pulling a bait and switch...and it may cost you your home...
Continue reading...
- You've Been Turned Down for HAMP...Now What?
- Called on the Carpet for Denied Loan Mods – Is Wells Fargo the First of Many?
- HAMP Switches Gears…Away from Mods to “Avoiding Foreclosure”
- Plenty of Loopholes in New HAMP Writedown Plan
- Foreclosures Take 12 Months on Average
- Continuing the Predatory Lending Fight
- Net Present Value and Why It Matters to You
- Chase Plans Foreclosure Prevention Events
- Mortgage Modification Conversion Drive - Part 2
- HAMP Update – New Program Offers Borrowers Foreclosure Alternatives
- Todd Temaat: The bottom line is that once the home is sold, it'...
- Todd Temaat: First of all, just because the bank says you CAN s...
- Todd Temaat: I'd recommend going to your state attorney general...
- Jane Stewart: Dear Todd, We got behind on our mortgage and was ...
- D Weaver: I applied for the Home Modification program last m...
11. May 2010
4 Comments