The last few days I’ve been hearing an awful lot about the Government’s new “Making Home Affordable” program, which has been set up to help people refinance existing mortgages, or do a loan modification to help them to stay in their house. The government’s website explains what the program is meant to do:
Making Home Affordable is a plan to stabilize our housing market and help up to 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program gives up to 4 to 5 million homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments. The Home Affordable Modification Program commits $75 billion to keep up to 3 to 4 million Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.
Some of my friends have already started the process of refinancing their home through this program, when just a few months ago they were unable to refinance because their loan to value ratio on their house was below 80/20. Apparently under this plan doing those types of refinances, even up to 105% of the value of the home, should be possible.
Eligibility For Making Home Affordable Refinance and Loan Modification Program
Of primary importance in determining whether or not you are eligible for doing a refinance under this program, is who backs your particular loan. For purposes of this program only Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backed loans are eligible for The Making Home Affordable Refinance Plan. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use different sets of refinancing rules, so before proceeding any further, you’ll need to figure out if your loan is backed by either.
Who Backs Your Loan?
To find out if your loan is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, check these websites:
- Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Lookup Form: Fannie has a larger market share, so check here first. This one won’t ask for a social security number. You can also call: 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 8pm EST).
- Freddie Mac Mortgage Lookup Form: If Fannie Mae isn’t showing your loan on their books, try out Freddie Mac to see if they back your loan. Requires SSN. You can also call: 1-800-FREDDIE (8am to 8pm EST)
Once you’ve figured out if your loan is owned by Fannie or Freddie, write it down on your mortgage statement. Next, it’s time to figure out if you’re eligible for the refinance or loan modification programs.
Are You Eligible For The Government Program?
To be eligible for the refinance you must meet these criteria:
- Loans originated on or before January 1, 2009.
- Your loan is is owned/backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (You figured this out in step one above)
- You are current on your mortgage payments, no 30 day deliquencies in the past 12 months.
- You have income to support the new mortgage payments.
- Your first mortgage will not exceed 105% of the current market value of the property.
To be eligible for the loan modification you must meet these criteria:
- Your loan must have been obtained on or before January 1, 2009.
- First-lien loans on owner-occupied properties with an unpaid principle balance up to $729,750
- Document income with signed IRS 4506-T, two most recent pay stubs, and most recent tax return.
- Sign an affidavit of financial hardship.
- Modify by December 31, 2012.
- Have a mortgage payment that is no longer affordable, examples include significant change in income or expenses.
- The mortgage loan is in danger of going into default or loan is currently in foreclusure.
- Your loan does not necessarily have to be backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae
- Only the first mortgage is eligible for a modification if you have a second. (UPDATE: Second mortgage may now be eligible. Check here)
Again, to figure out if you are eligible for the Making Home Affordable program, go to the government’s website and answer their simple questionnaire. If you meet the criteria above, you should reach a page at the end of the process telling you that yes, you are eligible. Try it out at the link below:
The Next Step – Refinancing Or Modifying Your Loan
Now that you’ve determined that your loan is backed by Fannie or Freddie, and you’ve confirmed that you meet the eligibility requirements, what’s the next step?
First, you should get all of the following paperwork together so that when you call your loan servicer and ask about your options under the Making Home Affordable program, you’ll be ready to go. You’ll need:
- Information about monthly gross income, including recent pay stubs if the borrowers are salaried and receive them and documentation of any income received from other sources.
- Most recent income tax return.
- Information about assets.
- Information about any second mortgage on the house.
- Account balances and minimum monthly payments due on all credit cards.
- Account balances and monthly payments on all other debts such as student loans and car loans.
Finally, you should call your mortgage servicer or lender and ask about the Home Affordable Refinance or Loan Modification application process, and what your options are under the program. Their phone number should be on your monthly mortgage bill or coupon book. Once you enter the process, be patient as lenders are receiving a lot of applications, and it may take some time to get things moving.
For more details about the refinance and loan mod programs, check out these FAQs
- Making Home Affordable Refinance Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Update: Modification Program Updated To Cover Second Mortgages
Are you currently trying to refinance or modify your home loan under the Making Home Affordable program? What has your experience been like so far? Any tips or pointers to make it easier for others? Tell us about it in the comments!
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Well my loan is with chase in California. I have a second on it as well.
They just told me that they aprpoved on the first and denied on the second due to house ratio. Five months ago I was given the opportunity. To make trial payments on both once I re-submitted my updated paystubs they said I made too much. Although I explained that it was overtime hours. U will be in the same boat if the second I’d not modified. They suggested to contact the work out department but I don’t trust them anymore. Any suggestions. Please help..
We were told we could refinance and everything was okay and then we were told that no we did not qualify because we have lender paid pmi. Well the more i read on this the more i see that you cannot get this program if you have pmi on your current loan, however if you owe between 80-105% on your current loan as you need to qualify then how can you not have pmi?? It seems that they contradict each other and it is impossible to get. Something needs to be done!!
I have a question,,,I heard that if your mortgage has been sold, which mine has 3 times since I got it,,,that if the current company doesn’t have your original loan papers then you can sue them and get your house for free? Because you really don’t have an agreement with them!??? Is this true? Like mine is thru Citi now but my original loan was with Bank One.
And I have another comment,,,we have been approved for a home affordable mod,,even though we DO have PMI,,,our mortgage is with Citi,,and we were never told anything about not getting it becuz of pmi,,,if your lender won’t give it to you just keep on them about it,,that’s what i did,,i kept telling them we wanted to keep our house but we couldn’t afford the payment and FINALLY they are helping us,,,the main thing is,,answer every phone call, dont’ avoid them and stand your ground with what you want,,,they dont’ need anymore foreclosures,,they will eventually help you.
It would be really great if someone could bring to light the truth about
the Making Home Affordable Programs !!!!
Making Home Affordable is one of the biggest government run scams ever foisted on the American People.
Making Home Affordable is the proverbial throwing the bone to the dogs.
There’s no meat on it. It is simply put there to distract and keep
people busy and quiet while they chew on the bone and chase their tail.
Since it has no meat the people will still loose their homes with this farce of a program.
I am speaking from experience we have and still are going round the mill with this one. Actually, we are chasing our tails.
After 6 months we have had three denials from Wells Fargo even though we totally qualify according to the program as written. We have 50% equity in our home and current on payments. Of course Wells Fargo says we don’t qulify, they won’t explain why we don’t, they just say we don’t. Again reading the program the banks call the shots in the long run, from what I can read they are the over site for the program!
The lobbyist keep growing for the lenders even though if I recall our
elected President was going to clean that up, and he was not going
employ any of them in his term. Interesting how all the ones in charge
of all these matters come directly from the financial institutions that
have been bailed out (maybe he lied?).
Some blogs and sites suggest getting a lawyer. Why do I need a lawyer to get what is suppose to be mine from my government!
Personally that money is extremely hard to come by. Our next tail
chasing session will be trying HUD/FHA. I expect that will be exactly
like the experience with Wells Fargo since it seems very apparent that this is all set up to benefit the banks, not us anyway.
In the long run I expect we will loose our home, empty out our IRA’s in
the process, our savings are already gone, and Wells Fargo will be happy as pie that they get to make even more money from our home, which we have been so faithful in paying every month. Of course we have kept it in very nice shape for them also. Wells Fargo can then resell it and they can make even more money on it. Who cares that our family is out of home, savings, retirement and well being.
And wow, what a deal I get to pay for that too.
Oh yeah, we contacted our elected officials their reply, contact your
lender and work with them. They were so helpful!
And so here we stand still chewing on the bone.
Someone telling the truth on this would be great for the American people who are getting caught up in this huge lie foisted upon them by the Obama administration offering the American people hope and help but in reality it’s just a bone.
Banks need oversight badly. They apparently want to be the new real estate agents. They have no intentions of helping anyone and just want their bonuses. i have watched my fiance try to refinance 5 times since April 2009 and every college educated idiot we work with has a different sent of FHA guidelines. FHA needs to get these bloodsuckers in check!
Yes, my fiance qualifies as well and National City said “no you don’t qualify”. These banks are crap and they have no idea what they are doing. They all want college educated idiots that have no real life experience to work for them but they better hang on the their degrees to wipe their asses when they don’ have jobs. I can only hope that each and everyone of them experience at least half of what honest, hardworking people are going thru to keep roofs over their heads. There mommies and daddies would be so proud of them.
CS,
I agree with you completely. I did contact a lawyer, a very respected one and his words were this is pure OBAMA BS. You can’t sue because you signed a contract and you are in violation no matter what their bogus promises are. Only thing you can do is vote them out. Wish I had read your blog before we went thru the drill – it is a dark tunnel, there is no ray of hope for the HAMP program—total propaganda – - I feel like a fool for believing the servicing companies actually had control and could make this work as I am sure you do
I am having problems with this modification/refinance myself. We are down to one income. I called my bank (Bank of America) in September because I knew that we would not be able to make the October payment. They told me that there was nothing they could do because I was not yet behind. I thought the program was designed to help you if you anticipate getting behind. Everything states “don’t wait, contact your lender today.” After getting behind on the mortgage, which I told them I would, I called. But because werefinanced in July, I am not eligible for the modification. We have been in our home 12 years. In those 12 years, we only got behind shortly following Hurricane Katrina because my husband was out of work. We are now getting behind on everything. We do not want to lose our home. I thought we could at least depend on this new plan to “help” american people keep their homes and that would be one less thing we have to worry about. What a joke. So much for that.
I have a Fannie Mae backed loan through IndyMac (OneWest Bank). We have never been late on our payments, both with high credit score, etc… I have been calling them for two months now and keep getting the same answer that they don’t have the program in place to start taking application and that it should be up and running in a week or two.
Have you heard anything like this related to IndyMac/OneWest Bank? If I keep getting the run around, who would I make a complaint to?
They started accepting applications… Of course, I was denied.. They said it’s because of my lender paid PMI they cannot refinance… I thought all i needed to do was refinance with the current provider, but apparently there are unseen rules to the fact..
I’m currently with IndyMac (OneWestBank) 110% interest only @ 7.29% – and I meet all criteria for HARP according to the gov website
Who can I call about Bank of America givingme the run around about the Modification program which I quailify for. The first lady I spoke to at BOA was nice and told me I quailifed and she was going to put me through to someone that could help get the ball rolling, I was put on the line with a jerk who told me there was noting they could do for me and he would put in for my case to be reviewed and I would hear back in 120 days and in the mean time I needed to keep making my payments. He also said we didn’t make enough money for any of the programs offered and that we couldn’t afford our home. What can I do?
Amanda, I just emailed you the contact info for a gentleman at BoA that helped me.
We have a loan thru Wells Fargo. We contacted them in August of 2008 to tell them that we believed my husband was going to be laid off soon or have a cut in hours and we would not be able to make our full payment in the future. His hours were cut, and we started paying what we could afford, which was $200 less a month than our payment due. They wouldn’t apply any of the payments to our loan, but I continued to pay what we could. They finally got ahold of us in March of 2009 and said we were elligible for a home modification. We had to fax our paperwork at least 10 different times to 10 different numbers before they recieved it.. after I finally took it to my local branch, had someone in our local branch office sign a paper saying what we were faxing to them and when they faxed it, and faxed that along with our other papers they wanted… it seemed they were trying to get us to miss our deadline so they could put us into foreclosure. They then lowered our payment another $250 a month and said that is what it was going to be for the next 5 years, as long as we could make that payment for three months on time, our “trial” payment.. so we did, and we never heard from them, so for the next 3 months after our trial payments were over I have continued to make the payment, because I am not about to NOT pay something to them and let them say I am in default… and we just got some papers from them on Thursday afternoon saying that they are modifying us permanently (Finally, a YEAR later), but that we now have to pay $250 more a month than our trial payment… what good was seeing if we could afford to make the trial payment if it’s not even close to the payment they now want? $250 is a lot of money to us. They gave us the week of Thanksgiving to sign and mail the papers back to them, or we forfiet any agreements we have had… nice timing to get a lawyer to go over it with us and get it mailed back to them in time.
Do they look at the fact that we didn’t go to the movies, out to dinner, have ANY credit cards, got things only when we could afford them and with cash, all BEFORE, we wern’t splurging on things we didn’t need… Do they look at ALL of our medical bills from our two little girls that we have, or the fact that with all we have on our plates we are foster parents, trying to do what we can to help?
We are just a loan number, and they could care less about us or who we are, or what our family is about, just as long as they are making as much money as they can scrimp out of us.. how sad for our country.
My question has to do with applying for Home Equity Loan while applying for Making Home Affordable Refinance (MHAR). Our monthly bill payments could be reduced if we could consulate 20k debt. Future income is expected to improve somewhat within next few months, and I’m trying to avoid losing my credit. Our MHAR paper work has been submitted to Chase about 2 or 3 months ago. I don’t want to upset the possibility of completing MHAR. I wonder if it’s ok to proceed with applying for a Home Equity Loan at this time??? If so should I advise Home Equity Loan lender about current application with MHAR??? If I apply for Thank you for this website and any suggestions offered.
I started my loan modification through Acorn Oct 2008, somehow Chase claimed they did not submit the requirement documents and had to start all over again in early 2010. I sent the documents, no response in March I called again and was assigned a negotiator who requested the same documents to be sent again for the “investors” to review, I did. I was put in a 3 month trial period which I complied even though the reduction was only about $200 from my original payment. After the 3 month I did not hear anything and I stopped making the payments since I really could no longer afford it. I contacted Chase in several occasions and finally in October I was able to speak to someone else who seemed not to know who the negotiator in my case was. He asked that I send the documents again so that the “Investors” can review my file, I did and after not hearing anything from Chase I called again in this week and they say that I was taking out of the modification program because I stopped making my payments after the 3 month trial period. It seems to be a never ending case and I am ready to give up.
In March 08 we bought our home for 134500, put 20% 26900 down and financed 107600 @ 5.375% for 20 years. We have been paying an extra 67.40 per month to princ and each yr a lump sum pmt of 1200. Now our princ balance is 98145. Our loan is with Wells Fargo. We want to refi for 15 years at the new lower rates. We have excellent credit. I wanted to pay it down to 95K and just refi 95k.
They are recommending the HARP government program @ 4.25% for 15 years but said that the loan amt MUST be at least 100,001.
Q#1 Is that a requirement of HARP? If so, can part of the 100K be closing/refi costs ie (97k loan + 3k costs)?
Also the automated value is 131,000 even though other comparable properties in neighborhood are selling for 117000-125000.
Q#2 is it beneficial to me for the value to be less or should I not worry about that and accept the automated value?
Q#3 Is that automated value the reason the loan must be over 100K?
Q#4 The last thing I want is more government intervention in our privacy. Will this HARP program allow the government to access or monitor my loan?
At this point I wouldn’t give a mortgage company any more money than you owed for them to get interest off of. They are all greedy and won’t once take into consideration that you made this extra effort when god forbid you can’t make one payment. Keep your money don’t let the banks get richer.
Under the MHA program for a Fannie mae loan, Bank of America is giving me the run around. The loan was originally owned through countrywide. I accidentally had 1 late payment of 33 days in Dec 2008, so back in June I didn’t qualify. However, it has been the 12 months now, so they still tell me I am not eligible. What is the exact requirements? I have 2 morgages, a 1st and 2nd, the 1st should be eligible. The house is not worth less than the 1st mortgage, a credit score of 785. I have a very stable job. I remember last time you had to speak to a countrywide side person of BOA. Any ideas who I should call? Everyone I know who has tried this has gotten denied. Any ideas who I should call?
I too have a mortgage with BoA,and was told I Tax Advantage Mortgage Insurance so I do not qualify. I am current on all my bills (for now) but who knows for how long. Does anyone have any more info on refinancing with T.A.M.I? or is there some contact info for the government I can try? This seems unfair to exclude a whole bunch of Americans who have “T.A.M.I.”
I’m with fred and was told by BoA that I could not refinance under the Making Home Affordable program because of TAMI. This is completely unfair as I didn’t even know what TAMI was. My mortgage broker did not explain to me the difference or even give me a choice. Now I’m pretty much out of luck and may have to short sell or foreclose because of a divorce.
Mortgage companies apparently want to own real estate. They are flat out not working with people. My fiance has tried 5 times since April 2009 to refinance and below is the crap they are giving him.
1. The broker didn’t think it would go thru so he didn’t send it.
2. The mortgage co. said credit score too low.
3. The mortgage co. said since some mortgage payments made in cash(be advised he has all bank receipts) that he needed proof that he was really the one making the payment. Who the hell would make someone else’s payment?
4. National City received all paperwork in October including the court order blessing the refinance from his bankrupty trustee and only after he called to check on the status 40 days later they said “oh you need to fill out new forms because PNC took over National City”. Note that PNC took over Nat. City in June and now it is our problem they are greedy and couldn’t update the needed forms to be used with the new name.
5. After getting another court order from the bankruptcy with PNC listed as the mortgage co. he gets a call from PNC stating “we dropped the ball and didn’t get an FHA number by Nov. 16, 2009 so we can’t refinance you.
This refinace needs to be done by April 2010 and there isn’t an intelligent mortgage company out there and they all seem to have different “FHA guidelines”.
A person losing a home is not funny and should not be taken lightly especially since the other borrower is the one that left the marriage and this is all to get a name off a piece of paper.
LET IT ALSO BE NOTED THAT HE HAS PAID HIS TRUSTEE PAYMENTS TO DATE AND IS TO BE DISCHARGE IN MAY AND ALL MORTGAGE PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN PAID TIMELY.
IS THERE AN INTELLIGENT COMPANY OUT THERE TO WORK WITH? THIS WILL ALSO BE FORWARDED AS HIGH UP IN GOVERNMENT SO THEY CAN SEE THE BANKS ARE GREEDY, SELFISH AND ONLY WANT THEIR BONUSES.
I’m having a tough time with B of A too. There seems to be a sticking point regarding what qualifies as the date of origin for the loan. I’ve had my home for 9 years, but my mortgage has been transferred and refinanced a couple of times. We did an FHA refinance last year, and the close date was in February. For that reason and seemingly no other, I’m unable to get help with my situation. My husband was laid off 8 months ago, and our savings are almost gone. Unless something is done to help people like me, foreclosure rates will still remain high. Any advice?
Dear Peter,
In the first place America needs to realize we are being deceived by our own government regarding HAMP.
Why isn’t America being told the truth? NO ONE will qualify for HAMP because it is under the control of the INVESTORS (primarily Communist China who bought the sub-prime notes) and NOT the SERVICING COMPANIES as outlined in the HAMP program. It is a SHAM, you must know it, I for sure know it after 7 months Trial Mod only to find out rejected because of, get this “You don’t meet INVESTOR GUIDELINES”. America has been given a false ray of hope because HAMP is a HOAX, a SHAM, and as my real estate attorney explained to me “OBAMA political BS’ designed to raise America’s hopes, make him look good. In reality we are in a terrific economic slump, I don’t care what the news trys to portray, housing values have declined where I am at by 20% in just the last 9 months – so sooner or later Washington, who definitely does not have my support after this HAMP SHAM, will have to realize actions, not words and false promises get results. I am not bitter, just very disappointed and have absolutely no trust in my elected officials – sad part is, I can’t do anything about it and they spend all their time scratching each other’s back while sticking a knife in ours! You probably won’t post this because it says exactly what is happening and is the truth but I thought you should at least hear it from an actual user who has been deceived along with the other 9 million home owners facing foreclosure.
Sincerely,
Gary Smith
I have to agree to a point. This program has seemed to be pretty worthless for the people who REALLY need it. I was able to refinance our home mortgage through HARP, but if we hadn’t been able to it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. The people who really need help are the ones who are getting the run around, being told that they can’t get help until they are behind on payments, and being lied to and told they don’t qualify. I’m sure it is frustrating!
Hello:
I think I have been taken advantage of through the PMI scam with
Bank of America. 2 years ago I purchased a home. I was alarmed at the appraisal that came back on the house and felt something was wrong. I asked about it and was told by the lender that the appraisal was correct. When I contacted the county office; I was told that the county had assessed the value of the property at approximately $34,000 over what the bank had appraised it for. At the closing table I was told by the lenders representative that I should pay the PMI for a year then write in to have it removed, I was told I would have to pay for a new appraisal. A few months after closing, I looked at the appraisal and noticed that there were some major things missing. (For example, the home is equipped with a zoned dual heating and cooling system (2 furnaces and air conditioners zoned to heat and cool specific parts of the house). It is also equipped with a central vaccum system and a 13 station intercom and security system. None of which appeared on the appraisal. When I contacted the lender I was given the appraising company to call. I spoke with the owner of the appraisal company and was told that it shouldn’t make a difference because most people don’t want 2 furnaces and that it appeared that I had gotten a good deal on the house anyway; but for an additional $400.00 they would be happy to come out and reappraise the home. I didn’t know who to turn to, because I certainly did not trust them. I was told by the lender that I would need to use their appraiser to have it accepted. It is now 2 years later, I’m still paying PMI and I called to ask the bank what the requirements were, they sent me a letter which specifically says, “your loan is less than 5 years old and you therefore do not qualify for removal of PMI; contact us when your loan reaches 5 years old”. Let’s go back. I purchased the house on a foreclosure, it was 12 years old at the time for approximately $30,000 less than the bank appraised it for (keep in mind this is a low appraisal; and the county appraised the home at $34,000 more than the bank appraisal). 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath on .53 acres of land no major problems, I have sense upgraded appliances, flooring, light fixtures, interior paint, exterior paint. I have decided that this is much bigger than I can handle and am praying that God will intervene and lead me to a source that can help me get out of the PMI. It’s costing me approximately $100.00 extra per month and they want me to pay this for 3 more years. I have read online stories about this type of problem with the same lender and wonder if there are others out there. If there is some sort of recourse to help resolve the issue.
Help!
After 6 1/2 months of jumping through every hoop they tossed my way to try to get my mortgage with Chase modified they decided to turn me down yesterday. Their reason: “I have too much equity”. I purchased my home May 2008 for $263,000. I live in a rural area in California, in a very depressed housing market. Their “Broker Price Opinion” decided my home is currently worth $337,000 which they claim puts me over the threshold by $5,600. I told them I think their “desktop” appraisal is way too high and asked what my options were to dispute this. I was told by a man who claimed to be a supervisor that they have no dispute process to handle such an inquiry. He suggested that I hire a licensed appraiser, at my own expense, ($450.00-$500.00), and submit the completed appraisal to them and “maybe” they will re-consider their decision. At this point I wonder if they ever had intended to even try to modify the loan and were looking for a convenient way to deny me. When I asked for a copy of their appraisal, I was told I could not have one. I also asked for a written denial, since I only learned of the denial because I was making my weekly follow up call to them at 5 am my time – they only time I can get through. I was told I would get a denial letter “sometime next month”. I am current with my loan and if you read between the lines of what he was saying today – he almost was suggesting I would have a much better chance at a modification if I was to become delinquent.
Any ideas on what to do?
We asked about the programs multiple times before our financial institution finally agreed that we qualified for the program. First, we were told that our debt ratio wasn’t bad enough (one person actually told us that she didn’t see a problem because we were only “a few hundred dollars short each month”). Then, we were told that we had to be more than 60 days late in order to be referred to any kind of a program. Finally, in June 2009, we were told that we would be sent paperwork for the Making Home Affordable plan. Our paperwork stated that we needed to make trial period payments (smaller than our normal monthly payment) starting in August 2009. We also had to submit a stack of paperwork including proof of income, tax returns, etc., which we did. The paperwork stated that if we made the 4 payments on time (August 1, September 1, October 1 and November 1), we would be sent final paperwork. We made the four payments on time and heard nothing from the bank. On November 13, 2009, we received a letter that stated they had not received a copy of our tax returns. We had faxed and mailed this paperwork already so they should have actually had TWO copies of it. We sent a copy of our tax returns in their re-paid envelope. On November 30, 2009, we received another letter, again that stated they had not received a copy of our tax returns. This time we called and asked what we could do to make sure that the paperwork was routed to the correct place. They informed us that we needed to include our name, property address, phone number, loan # and case # on EVERY piece of paperwork sent in. We sent a new set of tax returns with every page having the information on it. We sent them again. We called a few days later and FINALLY they had them. All of this time we are stilling make the trial period mortgage payments on the 1st of each month. We overnighted the payments each time to make sure they got there on or before the 1st. On January 23, 2010, we received a letter that stated the “Our records reflect that we have not received all of your trial period mortgage payments. As a result, you are at risk of losing your eligibility for a permanent Home Affordable Mortgage”. The letter states that if we feel it is an error that we can send proof. I have proof that all payments were made and are mailing the proof tomorrow but what says they are going to get it? Is this ever going to end?
After all the work, paying for the aprasial, 1st @ 95% LTV, add the second, up to 113% LTV, 800+ credit, the second refused to subordinate. I just don’t understand. They are already second in line if I default. It would just stand to reason that they would want to help out my financial posititon with lower intrest to allow me to pay more towards my second. What gives? if people qualify for the MHA program, the Goverment needs to step in and force the holders of the second morgages to remain as second, to keep things as status quoe. After all, we the tax payers bailed them out!
Great blog. My wife and I have over-levered and we have no one to blame but ourselves. That said, our property lost $100,000 in value in the downturn and even though we put $100,000 into the house, it is only worth $4000 more than we paid for it, and that was when it was in terrible condition.
Fast forward to now. We are current on our mortgage, have been since we bought the house 5 years ago. We got our original primary mortgage through Taylor Bean Whittaker and it was sold to Wells Fargo. According to the Freddie Mac website, our loan is owned by them. So on paper, we qualify for HARP. I called Wells Fargo and the rep told me there was a code on my loan and that I don’t qualify for the HARP program. Now I am reading this blog and it sounds like this is not true. So my question is, what do I do? We have a new baby on the way, and while we can make our payments for now, it is going to quickly change come August 2010. Our LTV all in is 123% based on a terrible recent appraisal. Help is appreciated!!!
I was a TB&W customer too (never late) and my loan is being serviced by Cenlar. I was told by them that as a TB&W customer and having a Freddie/Frannie backed loan that the gov’t has identified a couple of banks to re-fi under the HARP Plan. Fifth Third bank is one and I’m working on refinancing mine with about 113% LTV. You may want to contact them as I think they are going as high as 125% LTV. I’m told I’m approved and the loan is being processed. So far I havent faced the horror stories I’m reading on this blog. Good Luck to everyone.
Mar. 23, 2010
I have read all posts here. Since there was no dates on the posts, I’m wondering when the last posting from Bill was written. I myself had tried MHA refinancing from the period of Apr. 09 – Aug. 09 with every single effort in vain. Recently I called BOA to see if anything has changed but heard about “Phase 2″ for the loans with PMI, which I found just a hype they used in around last summer according to some posts in here. Just wondering if everybody has given up… (or any hope?)
I posted that post around March 1 or maybe late Feb. Can’t remember.
I dont qualify for HARP according to Wells Fargo (and the office of the president, whose office I contacted thanks to an email address on here) because my loan was not originated with Wells Fargo. It was sold to them by Taylor Bean Whittaker.
Anyway, I am working on a loan modification with Wells Fargo – I sent them every last document what shows my financial condition, and I am waiting for them to get back to me (but before too long I will be calling them again). Matthew Turk is the gentleman that is working with us.
I am really not expecting much. We have no one to blame but ourselves (actually I have no one to blame but myself). Just trying to do everything we can to get out of debt while there is still a chance. I don’t want to be saddled with 60k plus debt if I am forced to short sell my house and can’t cover what I owe on it. It’s just a bad situation.
March 23 2010.
If it walks like a piggy, talks like a piggy, by golly it’s a PIGGY!
BofA and it’s CEO Brian Moynihan reminds me of that song by John Lennon and George Harrison titled “Piggies” I invite you to listen to this song on youtube and see if it appropriately fits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXdKlpBOvs0&feature=related
Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.
Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in.
In their ties with all their backing
They don’t care what goes on around
In their eyes there’s something lacking
What they need’s a damn good whacking.
Everywhere there’s lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.
Wright vs. Bank of America Lawsuit at: unitedlawgroup.com
When I filed my lawsuit against Bank of America, myself and United Law Group thought of the many others out there in the same situation. It was then that we decided to educate the public on what these piggy banks are doing, as well as unite us all together as one voice. Please help me turn this David vs. Goliath modification process, into a Goliath vs. Goliath.
Please stand with me and United Law Group and send an email to Bank of America that states that we will no longer tolerate their potentially illegal, fraudulent, irregular and abusive business methods.
Divided we might have fell America, but united we must stand!
Please send your email directly to Bank of America and include the following:
1. Your name
2. Your complaint concerning your experience with Bank of America.
3. Please end your email “I support John Wright vs. BofA Lawsuit!”
4. Please send a copy of your email to johns-wright@hotmail.com
5. Please send your email to both BofA link below and the CEO email
BofA Linked Email:
https://www3.bankofamerica.com/contact/?lob=general&contact_returnto=&state=VA
CEO Brian Moynihan:
brian.t.moynihan@bankofamerica.com
WELL I HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND I AM FIGHTING BACK!
John Wright Vs. Bank of America
Please join my fight or show your support through your comments at http://www.unitedlawgroup.com
Divided we might have fell America. UNITED WE MUST STAND!
Sincerely,
johns-wright@hotmail.com