Last month after reading up on the Obama Administration’s new “Making Home Affordable” refinance program, I decided to look into it for our household. We’re sitting on a 6.5% 30 year fixed rate mortgage right now, and we’d like very much to be able to refinance that loan into a lower APR. With rates this low, who wouldn’t? If you’re interested in finding out more about the program, check out these links:
- Making Home Affordable Program: Do I Qualify?
- Making Home Affordable Refinance Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Modification Program Updated To Cover Second Mortgages
Making Sure We Were Eligible For Making Home Affordable Refinance Program
We went to the government’s website first, to see if we were in fact eligible for the program. After going through the steps there we found that we were.
Next we checked to see who owned/backed our loan, and it turns out we have a Freddie Mac loan. We were hoping it was a Fannie Mae loan, because that would mean that we could refinance with another lender, and with Freddie Mac you have to refinance with the original loan servicer. In other words, you have to refinance with the same company.
Trying To Get Refinance Information – The First Time
Next, I got the special “Making Home Affordable” refinance program phone number off of the Countrywide Home Loans website (now Bank Of America Home Loans). I wasn’t expecting much from them as I had called a few months earlier to look into my refinancing options, but they wanted to charge us in excess of $7000 in closing costs and fees, and on top of that we had to have an appraisal done and we probably would have had PMI added back onto our loan. That made it a non-starter.
I called the refinance hotline and was quickly transferred to a “mortgage specialist” who was supposed to talk to me about our refinance options. Problem was, the phone line after the transfer wasn’t any good and I couldn’t hear the agent talking at all. She got my number and said she would call me back.
So I waited, and waited. She never called me back.
I went on twitter and talked about how I was getting the run-around, and how my lender had never called me back. Several people fired right back that they had similar experiences. Some were getting the run around, while others had their loan servicers feigning ignorance when talk of the “Making Home Affordable” plan came up.
I gave up on getting more info that night, and decided to follow up the following week.
Trying To Get Refinance Information – The Second Time
Over the weekend I started talking with an extremely helpful mortgage twitter user, @mortgagereports. I came away with the impression that doing a refinance for a Freddie Mac home loan would not be as easy as a Fannie Mae loan. They tend to be more restrictive, and thus far their documentation for the HARP program isn’t very helpful for the lenders. Because of that people are running into problems doing refinances.
After confirming that I would have to refinance through my current servicer, Countrywide Home Loans, @mortgagereports said he would try to hook me up with a contact he had at Countrywide, “on the inside”! He thought his friend might be more helpful than the customer service hacks I had talked to before.
I talked with his contact at Countrywide and he was in fact a lot more helpful. After doing some initial paperwork we discovered that we would be eligible to do a refinance and lower our rate to about 5.125%, with closing costs coming in at around $3000 (plus pre-paid interest, taxes and other escrowed items). This is about the same deal that we had gotten months before, but the fact that we had to pay PMI at that time meant we didn’t go through with it. Because of the Making Home Affordable refinance program, this time we would not have to start paying PMI, even though our equity has dropped below the 80/20 loan to value ratio.
We were getting ready to go through with doing the refinance when something happened that stopped us in our tracks.
Another Stay In The Hospital.. And Hospital Bills
Around the time that we were about to sign on the dotted line to do the refinance, my wife found out that she was going to need to have surgery for a medical issue that was discoverd during a doctor’s visit. She was scheduled for, and had the surgery. She stayed in the hospital for several days while she was recuperating. Thank God everything turned out pretty well.
As most of you know hospital stays are not cheap, even when you have insurance. We discovered that fact last year when my wife was in the hospital for a month and we racked up over $250,000 in medical bills. Thankfully we only had to pay a bit over $2000. Thank God for insurance.
We are now expecting to have medical bills coming in the mail again (and they have already started coming in), so we decided to hold off on the refinance for now. At least until we got all of our medical bills paid off, and enough saved up to pay for the closing costs.
Are You Refinancing?
Are you in the middle of doing a refinance, either through the Making Home Affordable Program, or otherwise? I’m curious how it’s going for you (or how it went?). Was it a smooth process, and did you get the rate you were looking for? Did you have to pay a lot of fees? Tell us about it in the comments!
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Bank of America stinks. I’m about to close my account with them. I’ll be blogging about it, and referencing this post.
Hello
I agree, Bank of America stinks. We been trying to get a home affordable plan from them since a year ago and we keep getting the run around, even our HUD counselor.
It took me 3 or 4 times with Wells Fargo for them to finally have it together with the Obama refinancing program. On the day I called that they actually knew something about it, they offered me 2 different programs (we have about 21% equity). One being Obama’s refinancing and one being their program called the 3 step no cost refinance. They offered me 4.625% 30 year fixed with a 1% origination fee with Obama’s plan and 5% 30 year fixed for the “no cost” plan. I thought the 1% origination fee was ridiculous and for me would be over $4000. We actually just refinanced to 5.75% in October and I didn’t want to pay over $7000 more in closing costs. So we chose the 5% and won’t have to pay a penny. Granted the rate is a little higher and not under the 5% that I would have liked but we will still be saving over $200 a month. Obama’s plan would have saved us about $275.00/month but cost us more in the short term. We didn’t want to give up our savings in this economy. We are still in the midst of all the paperwork but when its done I know it will be worth it.
Sorry to hear about your wife. Hopefully you can save up some money and still refinance when the rates are low.
Just got off the phone with Countrywide/BOA a few hours ago and was approved for a 5.375% 30-year fixed mortgage. They’re making me pay 1/4 point, but they WANTED me to pay 1 3/8 points… no way.
Only bad part is the wait for closing. They said they are so backed up that it will take around 60 days to close and they couldn’t schedule a closing date exactly. I was hoping to schedule a closing date at the end of June, but I guess I’ll be waiting until the end of July.
Oh, and I had a Freddie Mac loan, too, which limited my options somewhat. They will only let you roll $2500 of closing costs into the loan, whereas Fannie Mae will let you roll all your closing costs into the loan. So, I’m looking at bringing around $700 to closing… Not a big deal, but I would have preferred to bring $0 to closing.
I have a loan through Countrywide now Bank of America. Upon calling BofA they state even though my loan is owned by Fannie Mae, Fannie Mae purchased additional insurance on the loan which disqualifies it from the Obama Refi guidelines. I spoke with Fannie Mae who said that should not be an issue. Fannie said I could refi through another qualified lender. BofA will not proceed and banks such as Wells Fargo said loans owned by Fannie Mae have higher refi interest rates (6.1%) than Freddie Mac (4.875%), especially when there exists a second mortgage.
I am at a loss what to do…
My lender Provident Funding keeps telling me they are not approved yet for the Make Home Affordable Refinance Program, but they are for the Loan Modification. How can that be? Are lenders really having to get approved? And by who? And why would they be approved for the modification and not the refinance part? I can’t find anything on line or any one who has answers to these questions. Yes, it’s Freddie Mac so I have to use my lender. But that’s my point, If you have to use your lender and your lender isn’t approved, now what????
My lender is Provident Funding as well and they are telling me the same thing. Have you heard anything else?
Thanks
According to the passage below, all mortgages held by banks whose loans are guaranteed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are required to participate whether they are approved or not.
http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/borrower_qa.pdf
I have been having a headache and a runaround with Bank of America/Countrywide with my questions as well. I’ve been laid off for over six months now and cash is running extremely low. There are not very many people out there who know all the details of the program. I have talked with four B of A employees so far and not one of them knows as much as can be found on various websites, including http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov. It seems as though the banks are still making their own rules and not following government guidelines on who qualifies and who doesn’t.
“Participation is mandatory for servicers of loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (Government Sponsored Enterprises or GSEs). Participation in HAMP is voluntary for servicers of non-GSE loans. However, substantial incentives are available to servicers, investors and borrowers who complete modifications under HAMP, and most major servicers already have committed to the Program. A current list of participating servicers is available at http://www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov. Servicers not currently listed have until December 31, 2009 to opt into the Program.”
hi everyone, welcome to the world of taxpayer banking. i also am in the procwss of trying to get my mortgage modified. my loan is owned by fannie and serviced by citimortgage. i have been trying to accomplish this feat since nov,08 , when citi implemented their own plan to help homeowners(because they were on t.v , explaining their bonuses). in jan. citi modified my mortgage to 38 percent of my income on a trial basis, since i qualified for the obama plan in feb. i have completed the trail and still are waiting to hear for citi. i have constantly been in touch with my case worker and get the complete runaround, they are always waiting for another tool to use. i reccomend, you go to the making homes affordable and call the phone number on the upper right side of the page. it is a goverment number, which puts you intouch with a non profit agency and they will see what you qualifiy for and get the ball rolling. i was told because they report to the goverment, their progress, the banks seem to work amazingly quick. when you call they answer right away. NOTE: i was told by the agent who took my info, that the obama plan will also modify the second mortgage also when the first is done OR ELIMINATE IT ALL TOGETHER(more info to come). for you people who have countrywide, this is who holds my second mortgage. FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH COUNTRYWIDE, I WOULD CALL THE NUMBER. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL AND BEST WISHES, ITS ABOUT TIME WE STICK IT TO THE BANKS,
Vince, in your comments above you said to call the number on the upper right side of the page on affordablehomes.gov. The problem is whenever I tried to go to the site it comes up “this page cannot be displayed.” Can you please provide me with the number you are referring to?
Yes, after about one month of getting nowhere with Wells Fargo, I finally was transferred to someone dealing with HARP loans and much more knowledgeable with the process then the service/loan reps. I’d been dealing with previously. We locked in at 4.75%, $2,500 in fees rolled back into the loan. We are looking to bring in about $1,400 at closing. There will be no PMI, prepayment or balloon fees, and the appraisal fee I was told would most likely be refunded (credited back at closing) as about 95% of these loans require no appraisal. We will be saving approximately $275.00 per month. I, like many others here, had been trying to do this for a few months, but was only ever offered higher rates, higher costs, forced PMI and escrow accounts and an appraisal requirement. Now my question is, will something similar be offered to us under the “Second Mortgage” part of Obama’s plan or will it only help those modifying their loans. I’ve been told the “guidelines” are not yet available.
Hi Dora,
My husband and I going thru Wells Fargo HARP program and about to close on my loan. Last minute we are being told that we will need to set up an escrow account because the LTV is less than 80/20. Did you do a 105% Loan to value refi? We do not have an escrow account now because we prefer to make the tax/insurance payments ourselves.
You do not have to have an escrow account if your original loan did not have one. However, if your original loan had an escrow account, your new loan under the MHA program will also be required to have one.
We’ve been trying to get a loan modification through the Making Home Affordable Program. When I called Countrywide, our mortgage servicer, I was told we were eligible for a modification, but were not their “priority” since we currently have a fixed rate mortgage. We meet all the criteria for a modification as set out by the plan, but no-go on the modification. Countrywide is selling us hard on a refinance to 4.25% – a great rate, but to the tune of almost 15K for points and closing costs, which they will graciously roll into our loan amount (thereby decreasing our equity further and setting us back over 3 years on the mortgage). This seems like bait and switch to me.
stephanie, do not listen to countrywide, they are the same people who got us into this mess. go to making homes affordable .gov and call the number on the upper right hand corner. this will put you in touch with a hud counceler. they will take your info and tell you over the phone what programs you qualify for and assign you a case number. then they will send you paper work to fill out and send in to them. this loan modification proce3ss takes peserverence. do not give up. good luck , vince
please post your results so others can see how you made out. please!
Vince, it’s Eulla again. I am looking for the number you are referring to above. Read my reply to your 5-22 comments. Also are you saying that I can call Hud and get someone to help me even though I have a mortgage with BOA aka CW, and is owned by Fannie Mae? I need to refinance my mtg which is at 6.00 with minimal closing cost.
Jill – I have the same experience with Provident. I have contacted them 3 times since March and they keep telling me to check back in a month. I was told yesterday that I would be put on a ‘call back’ list once they got the program in place. Sounds to me lsince I have a fixed rate like they want to put it off for as long as they can until the interest rates start moving back up again.
I have a Freddie Mac loan with Citimortgage. They are also stating that they are not yet refinancing Freddie Mac loans and that they are only doing loan modifications. I have a fixed rate and I suspect, as many have mentioned, that they are putting us off. If anyone has a Freddie Mac successful refinance story with Citi, I would appreciate hearing how you did it.
Is anyone konw that how much fee do I have to pay to apply Home Affordable Refinance?
Fees vary by bank and most can be rolled into the new loan. However, be wary if those costs are above the $3k to $4k range. Bank of America was originally wanting me to pay around $11k for a refinance. Hogwash, I say!
Our mortgage is currently with Countrywide (BoA). I have contacted BoA, Wells Fargo and my bank USAA. All have basically given me the same GFE of reducing current 30-yr fix from 6.375 to 5.375 or 5.675 – of course each has either 1% point or 1% origination fee along with other closing costs which comes to around $8,000 (before prepaids) – of which they will roll into new loan. All require appraisal since Fannie has our home value WAY low (about $100K) from what appraisals are coming out with.
They claim higher rates due to high LTV. House value has dropped from $600K to below $500K and our combined 1st and 2nd loans come to $506K.
1) I see many complain about closing costs – but are they reasonable or are the banks taking advantage?
2) Anyone see the Obama plan changing in the near future to make it worth waiting?
At least you guys seem to be getting some where with your mortgage companies. I have had my home for ten years now and refinanced into a convential loan with Ocwen in 2003. I started asking for help as soon as I got laid off December 3rd of last year. My mortagae payment is currently more than 50 percent of what I bring home and Ocwen told me my income was to high for them to help me. I guess they want the payment higher than your bring home. Anyway when Obama announced the new plan I called my mortgage company and then printed up the forms and faxed them back with all other requested forms. I was told it would take ten days a week after I sent the forms, so I waited a month thinking the mail was just slow. Finally I called in and they informed me that my requested was tossed, because there was new forms to fill out. Again I went through the process and I waited. In the mean time I finally got my stuff together to do my taxes for 2008 and sent that off. Finally after another month I called them back and found out that even though taxes was not due yet they had to have the tax forms from this year, so I emailed those right away. They actually started calling everyday to inform me that I was missing a form (convient for them to do this after I already called and found out for myself). I kept resending this every other day for over three weeks before a worker took pity and had me email him directly and then he forwarded it to were it needed to be. It finally got accepted May 5th (early February, the day it started). Finally May 25th and I still have not heard anything back from them, so I called them again. I was transferred to a lady (I forget her named) and informed that was she was in charge of my case and would ultimately decided what they would do if anything, she also made it clear that she just recieved my file that morning and she is working two to three weeks out and not to call back until June 15th at the earliest. So I am currently waiting and unsure of what I want to happen. Good luck to everyone out there!
Timely article I just wrote on this earlier in the week, I’m hoping to close tomorrow with Wells Fargo but it has been painfully slow. I did not have to pay any more fees, no appraisal required thank goodness.
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We are with RBC and I will call Monday to find out about a possible adjustment to our current mortgage or a refi.
When I called them before the woman on the phone pretendet that she had never even heard of the Making Home affordable Plan,I could not believe it!
Anyone else here had any experience with RBC?
THE BEST DEAL AROUND! I am sincerely hoping this helps someone who is struggling like we have been. I just finished closing on a fha streamline refinance at my kitchen table. NO FEES, NO CLOSING COSTS. A notary came to the house tonight and all papers were signed. My initial call was made on June 4th. On Friday June 5th I locked in a 5.5% 30 year fixed rate. On Monday June 8th I received a good faith estimate and other loan documents through email and a closing date of June 18th was set. .LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AWAY. FACTS: Originally bought our home in July 2007 at 7.75%. No money down and pmi of $262.00 per month. Refinanced one year later to 6.5% incurring total fees of about $6,500.00. But pmi was reduced to $63.00 Since Obama was in my corner and rates went so low I began searching to refinance again. GMAC had my loan and they were on Obaba’s list of lenders. They wanted $7000.00 total fees! Other places were almost as bad. My loan didn’t qualify, or fees were unreal, or my credit wasn’t in the EXCELLENT range, no estimated date of closing because they were so over burdened with callers. ETC., ETC. I more or less gave up and besides rates were creeping back up again. Then an offer came in the mail (like so many others) but this one….something lead me to call. The rest is history as described above. My current loan of 154,600 will be paid off. UNAVOIDABLE fha prepaid pmi is $2315.00, with a prorated refund of 1331, leaving $984.00. I bought 1/2 point at at 771.00. Total loan “costs” $1755. New loan $156,355.00. Saving just shy of $100.00 per month on the payment. Same terms, 30 year fixed, no prepayment penalty, etc. These guys are smart. They front you your prepaid escrow so it’s not rolled into your loan or out of your pocket. Then in 21 days when it is refunded to you, you sign it to them. There was no verification of anything. They asked no questions about income, bank accounts, NOTHING except for SS#. The only documents I supplied were copies of drivers licences, the bank note from mrtg.co. and my homeowners policy. UNREAL!!! If you want to check it out, call the guy that I miraculously hooked up with. His name is Steve Bache (sounds like back). He is with Carnegie Mortgage/ Grand Bank in Maryland. Doesn’t matter what state you are in. They send a notary to your house. His number is 800-506-8262. Ask for Steve Bache or use ext 102. I asked him if I could post his services here….he said I have a son leaving for college in 2 months..thanks
My wife and I bought our home during the peak and even with a large down payment are severely underwater after only being in the home less than two years. On the advice of our loan officer we took an ARM due to high interest rates for conforming 30 year loans. We were told we could refinance after one year to traditional 30 year loan. Then the market crashed and we could not refinance. Our loan is not due to reset for several years and we are current, however we fear the possibility of future hyperinflation and are desperately trying to conform to a 30 year fixed.
I have contacted Freddie Mac, the securer of my loan for instruction. I was told that I would qualify for the president’s new hope for Making Home Affordability Plan. I also checked the making homes affordable website. Freddie Mac instructed me to contact my lender Country Wide now Bank of America. I was told they have tools such as loan modification as well as interest rate reduction that would allow me to fall within the 105% loan to value target. We have interest only conventional loans and both are from Freddie Mac. One of our loan is suppose to reset in 4 years and the other one resets in 7 years ballooning to a higher interest.
Bank of America refused I was then told to call hope for home owners. After spending many agonizing hours, days, and weeks with Bank of America they informed me that we don’t qualify for their Making Home Affordability and there are no programs that qualifies us to modify our loan. Then they sent me to home retention. Home retention stated that they were not helping anyone who was “current” on their mortgage. If I wanted help I had to stop paying on my mortgage. This was suggested by at least 3 different people at Bank of America!!!
I then turned to HOPE, I am currently enrolled in the services of MMI (money management international). They sent an outreach to Bank of America (Countrywide) on April 3rd. Bank of America has denied receiving as of April 23rd. I am now contacting both Freddie Mac and MMI again.
My wife and I recently attended the Making Home Affordability HUD Counselor Workshop Seminar. The Hud counselor went through our finances and told us that we are qualified for the Making Home Affordable Plan and the Bank should offer us this plan. We then called Bank of America again asking for all the right words based on the HUD counselor had instructed us to do. Bank of America denied us to be qualified for the plan again! The Customer Service on the other end of the line was so rude and will not work with us; she said there are no plans that fit our situation.
The counselor informed us that Bank of America are denying people and pretending that they don’t have such plan in their system to offer to the customer; because the bank are so backed up and they are forcing people to foreclose in their home. So then people would not have a choice but to take the banks offer which is not in the Obama’s Plan.
My loan to value is about 118% due to all the foreclosures in my neighborhood. After checking around many of the homes that have foreclosed have been so called no doc loans by institutions similar to Bank of America (Countrywide).
My own experience with this institution has been negative to say the least. I have been passed on, lied to, and have been given questionable advise by nearly every agent (not pay your mortgage to qualify?). Bank of America has taken several billion dollars in TARP money. Unless the current laws are changed or more pressure is put upon this institution the foreclosures will continue. People like me who are current on their mortgages will soon decide if holding on to a property that may never recover may not be worth it. I am the kind of person a bank should want to keep but now must make a financial calculation. Whether or not to take the hit on my credit now or later.
Countrywide/Bank of America is an institution that cannot recover with all of its bad loans. As painful as this may, nationalization of Bank of America may be necessary. Temporary wiping out all the share holders maybe the best hope for people facing the foreclosure and will force the back to comply with Obama’s Plan.
With the current leadership structure at this institution and the amounts of bad debt on their books they cannot be trusted to follow suggested policy now, or in the future. Bank of America the poster child for bad no doc loans.
The president must hold this institution to task and if they refuse, force the issue.
My own experience with BOA/CW reads just like this! This appears to be their policy- it’s systematic- corrupt!!! Something needs to be done. The government website reminds homeowners to be patient but this is ridiculous. I had to call back four times because their “system was down.” I spent hours on hold. I was transfered from one dept. to another- back and forth. Their were problems to with their transfer-three- way calling. I was told I qualified then didn’t qualify for Making Home Affordable. Handled by loan officers who wanted to sell me, not help me. The refinance officer told me he wasn’t permitted to tell me how or which program he used to calculate the value of my property!?! when I questioned how low it was valued at- putting it over the 105% cut off to qualify for the program. I was told to call back next month for some reason. I need help with dealing with them.
I just read your experience with Bank of America. We have gone through the same thing. We get transferred from one department to another even to people that don’t even speak English. We been waiting since March 2009 to hear from Freddie Mac. Our HUD counselor did not have any better luck. We finally were approved for the Federal Program and the next time we called their computers and phone lines were down. Somebody needs to hold Bank of America accountable. Even the news media is ignoring this problem.
There is help! Please read my letter above from June 18th. Call this number 800 506 8262. Steve Bache. fha streamline refinance, no cost, no credit qualifying, no appraisal, closed in less than 2 weeks!! Since they are out of my state, I am in Green Bay WI, they sent a notary to my house to close. After all I went thru, I still can’t believe what just happened!!! It’s not too good to be true!! I just did it. If you have been praying for help you have been lead here. I have been compelled to share this information here. If he can’t help your situation you have lost nothing. Lord please help relieve the stress and worry of your children who are seeking help. Proect them and guide them. And give them a hug. Amen
Hi Carol, have you checked this Steve Bache person out and Carnegie Mtg/Grand Bank with the BBB? I would like to be sure they are legit before I give him a call. I plan to call BOA tomorrow to try to get my mtg refinanced. Thanks for the info.
My husband and I had a positive experience with BOA home loans (loan originally with KB Countrywide). I called them on May 20 and spoke with a Carl who was very helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me the details with the Make My Home Affordable plan and that day the interest rates were 4.65% (my current interest was 6.15%). We agreed to go with the loan process and everything ran very smoothly. Papers were signed and they had very few questions for me. In 30 days we signed our closing documents and are now on a 30yr, 4.65% fixed loan which saved us a little over $200 a month. We paid about $5000 for closing which included our escrow. The whole process was quick, smooth, professional and I personally would recommend anyone who is experienceing mortgage hardship to continue to seek help in modifying your loan to make the payments a bit more comfortable for you.
I have a Freddie Mac loan through SunTrust and have been waiting FOREVER for them to be able to even accept my application! They are supossedly getting the systems in place to be able to process them. Has anyone else dealt with SunTrust?
yes they are legit. My transaction has been completed as promised. Signed, sealed, delivered. A real lifesaver.
I am trying to share my positive experience and pass along a real help, but it seems everyone posts but does not read. I was treated fairly and very promptly. Immediate help is available for fha streamlined refinance. I had no extra costs, no gouging, no waiting. See my post of June 18 above for complete description. I am leaving my email address and will answer if I can. buslady-582@new.rr.com.
My advice is to get in touch with Carnegie Mortgage, Grand Bank. Does not matter what state you are in. They help nation wide. Steve Bache completed my refi in less than 2 weeks! His number is 800-506-8262. The website is http://www.fharefi.com/ . I hope you find relief.
I use Provident Funding as well. I believe that they are dragging their feet so that do not have to help as many people as they would have if they had started in March. Now the interest is going up and by the time they get around to refinance, it will be the same as it is now.
Angela
I’ve been trying to get the Home Loan Modification done since May 20th and it’s been nothing but hell. My loan is with former Countrywide, now BOA, and they are not making this easy. First time I faxed over my documents, I was assured that they would make to the right person/dept and was told to wait 30 days before they will be able to see it in their system. After 30 days of waiting, I was told to refax them. They finally showed up in the system but each time when I call back, I am given a different time line. I’ve been told to wait for 30 to 45 to 60 to 90 and now up to 120 days. Today a Supv at the Home Retention group told me that the delay was on government’s side which I do not believe. This has been extremely stressful. I can see why the Government gave BOA and WaMu and failing grade. Makes you wonder if they are purposefully creating delays to discourage customers from applying. All along you still have to come up with the payment which you are trying to lower. They really need to get their act together. Thanks for creating this blog. It’s somewhat of a relieve to see that I am not the only one going through this mess. Good luck to you all !!!!!
I am a countrywide/Bank of America customer and let me tell you I have been given the run around since May of 2009 in regards to the “Making Homes Affordable” Program. Which is well past the so called “45 to 60″ days they say that it takes to get your paperwork. They also tell you in a message that they are contacting customers who qualify this is not true. I have been trying to contact them since May in regards to a change in my financial situation and was told that I didn’t qualify for the program when I know indeed I did according to the government website questions. After finally talking to someone months later in July, 2009 and giving them my financial information situation then I was told that I did indeed qualify. What are the representatives being told because every time I talk to someone I get conflicting information every time. I have began to keep a file with names, dates, times, as to who I speak with because you never get the same answer regardless how many times you call. I think the government needs to look into Countrywide/the now Bank of America because something is just not right.
Gloria, I have to stop and wonder if I wrote your column! LOL. You sound EXACTLY like me and are going through EXACTLY what I am going through. Even my 14 year old had to stop and wonder!!!! The only exception, is I have Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
I have been working on my modification since April ‘09 and have gotten the same not qualified/qualified initial response (I’m the only borrower, backed by Freddie Mac and unemployed since April of 2008…hmmmmm), the same “contact those who qualify”, the same morons all speaking from different scripts, and I hear the same “45-60 days”. It was “45-60 days” back in May – twice, in June, in July, and twice so far this month, including today. I’m sure it will be “45-60 days” next month. I’M TIRED OF HEARING “45-60 DAYS”!!!!!!!!!!!
What I want to know is, anyone else getting the “we need you to send us a hardship letter and financial statement” (again and again and again and again) stall tactic? I faxed these 4 times over the last 3 months with a fax confirmation sheet each time. THAT’S when I’m told “45-60 days”. I’m convinced this is how they delay.
Gloria, now that I see you have a mortgage under a different bank and you are getting the same runaround, I’m thinking its not the banks, but the government themselves.
THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU VOTE FOR AN INEXPERIENCED DEMOCRAT PEOPLE…ALL TALK AND NO WALK! Obama should have played around in the kiddie pool instead of diving in with the big boys. Its all great to promise, but apparently his words and his “Making Homes Affordable Plan” can’t deliver and the banks are trying to stall until the government can recant.
Anyone think about going to the newsmedia about this? Its obvious there are some shady trees grown over this plan considering different lenders are all doing the same things and people aren’t getting the help they need with our 787 billion dollar in tax monies.
I have gone to the news media and contacted them several times. They seem to ignore the whole thing and it may not be news worthy to them. I sent a letter to all three major networks as well as the local media, they don’t seem to care.
I began this process December 2008. I submitted and resubmitted and resubmitted; called and called; over 12 work orders, AND NOT ONE PHONE CALL OR LETTER OR RESPONSE OF ANY KIND!! I finally lost it. I called my lawyer, my legislator, and the CFO’s office of BOA. Finally at the beginning of AUGUST, I finally get a response, but I had to sick everyone I could on you people. Then a guy named AJ working my loan pre-qual’d me for the MHA plan, he told me I could not be foreclosed on, he told me I would see a DRASTIC REDUCTION IN MY LOAN – as much as 50%! My mortgage is 1210/month. The MHA plan I got today offered a payment reduction to….. wait for it… 1181.10. WOW THIRY BUCKS! SO MUCH MORE FREAKING AFFORDABLE!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????? Just take the frigging keys. And tell AJ that when my kids no longer have a home we are moving in with him. He gave us false information, false hope. You people need to know what you are talking about or find another job. I cannot believe the ridiculous crap I have gone through to get a 30 dollar reduction on my loan. THANK YOU OBAMA, THANK YOU FANNIE MAE, THANK YOU BOA AND AJ. My prayers have been answered – not. Won’t get my vote again. go back to Hawai. I hope that all the greedy B@$trds who issued these loans are enjoying their trips to the islands, vacations, ovens that actually work, windows that don’t leak, heating bills they can actually pay and the lovely 70 degrees their house must be in the winter. The housing market crashed, I lost my job, and now I lose everything.The American Dream, people. Alive and well. And Mr Hartigan you insufferable toad, richer than god but whined over hving to pay 75 bucks for a pool pass so I had to pay half of my pathetic commission just to get the other half on your lovely vacation to Vermont I hope you rot. And the next time you swear at me or one of your emplyees over the phone I will take it upon myself to make your life miserable. Must be nice to have made your fortune on the backs of the little people. Piss off.
Does anyone know of any banks that are currently doing the 125 percent ltv harp program. I have a loan thru BOA and they say they are only doing the 105 right now.
My heart goes out to all of those homeowners who have been denied a MOD or REF .we have been denied since last Oct 08.we had to eventually stop paying just to get their attention.we are facing a sale date on our home on OCt 5 09 . during the process of a year we have been told nothing but lies.we do qualify for the Obama plan ,we did go thru hud councelors,we spoke to retention teams ,Hope and nothing. BofA (countryw) have untrained people answering and handling phone calls, making life changing decisions that affect everyone.All the empty homes in my block is sad to look at .My home will be next.Hang in there guys if you can get the help, well then you are that 1% out there.Its not the end of it ,but my prayers are with all those who have to leave and dont look back. God Bless u all.
These stories just kill me to read them but like when a freakin hurricane hits, my eyes are glued to the cable news channel… I keep reading and reading and feel for the people writing them… I get more and more angry at the banks, the CEOs, and God forgive me for what I think about Hope and Change and its inventor! My second request for a loan mod to US Bank was denied because now I guess I don’t meet some “Net Present Value” requirement. I’m happy because I wasn’t even given a reason the first time they turned me down. OK…….. what do we do about it? Its pretty obvious that there isn’t help from anyone out there. The people who do claim to help will rip us off, lie to us, or at best… their hands are indeed tied and they know it. I was told about CCCS…. a credit card debt managment plan and their plan was actually more money per Month than my Mim balance due is… Ha Ha…. Oh Man. Is there any info, websites, anything on the law and how WE can use it in order to stay in our homes, maintain our credit accounts? I have never walked away from a debt in my life and I’m not going to start now but I’m certainly gonna try and make this a 2 way street again. There has to be a way. Good luck everyone.
I thought I had a good chance to qualify for the “Making Home Affordable” Refinancing program under the Obama administration. I don’t have on blip on my credit. 2 of my credit scores are above 750 with one at 740 (This wouldn’t prevent me from qualifying for the program but I would be entitled to better rates). My home value is at or below the balance on the mortgage (within the 125% principal vs value requirement) CHECK. My loan is owned by Freddie Mac, CHECK. And I am able to do the refinancing under my current lender, Sovereign Bank, CHECK. I was all set to go and change my rate from 6.6% to the low 5%’s. Until I got hit with something called “pooled insurance”. No it’s not PMI. It’s some type of insurance that has nothing to do with the original 30 yr fixed mortgage I took out when I brought the home in 2003 or the 30 yr fixed refiinanced mortgage that I took out in 2007. Freddie Mac took this insurance out on my loan and grouped it with other mortgages. Just in case I defaulted or in order to trade it with mortgage backed securities (something like that). I don’t really understand the particular details behind it. I just know I am not eligible to participate in a program that sounded perfect for my situation when I was a perfect candidate. What’s the point of coming up with these programs if the rules are not uniform for Freddie and Fannie and there are additional loopholes that prevent someone with normal circumstances such as myself, from benefiting? I dont get it. I got all excited and wasted my time and energy for nothing. I’m highly upset and just plain pissed that I can’t participate in this program b/c of something that is completely out of my control. This whole thing stinks.
Felicia-
I have been in the process of applying for a loan modification through Sovereign Bank since May 2009. I call about once a week and was always told I was in “the final stage”. About a month ago I was told my doc’s are outdated and needed to resend the whole package updated. Like you, I seem to meet all of the qualifications. I was laid off from work, my husband is still employed. We have an outrageous interest rate of 7.75. We took this a few years ago to get out of an ARM. If approved for Obama’s program we would be able to afford our payments. I am afraid that I have a false sense of hope and now after reading your experience with Sovereign I am wondering if we also have “pooled insurance”. I’ve never heard of this, do you know how to find out if you have it? How was your experience of dealing with Sovereign for the loan mod?
My servicer is Chase. My loan is with FMac, but after having called numerous times regarding refinancing under Obama’s plan, and they ignoring comp[letely or treating me bad because I actually pay my mortgage (so I do not qualify for hardship), I gave up. While calling many times my value cntinued dropping. By the time one representative quite casually accepted there is a program and asked my loan number said “can’t do it. You are underwater now.” They in fact lowered the value quite a bit. I know how much the neighbor sold a unit like mine just a couple months ago… Anyway. I said that I was willing to do a formal appraisal. HE said, “well actually still cannot do it because you got the loan through a broker originally” ????????
And he added “your broker might not even exist today.” WRong. He does and I called him. He told me this is a total lie. It does not matter how you got the loan originally, as long as it is owned by FMac and serviced by this bank, this bank should do teh refinancing.
ALl in all, I am stuck under water (now yes) with a loan by Chase. Stuck.
I also wonder if any banks have the 125% program in place. My loan is also with Countrywide, now B of A. Program was supposed to be in place by 9/2009, but still isn’t. I have a Fannie Mae backed mortgage so could take my business elsewhere for the refinance, is what I understand, so maybe I won’t wait for B of A, but I don’t know who IS ready to do the 125% program.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BANK OF AMERICA!
When I first heard about the making Home Affordable Program I wnet to the Govt. web site and found that we qualify for the program that is supposed to decrease your payment to 31% of your gross income.(We are at 45%) I then proceeded to call the bank and discuss it with them. They told me what documents they needed and gave me the fax #. I faxed all the docs and called them a couple of days later to check if they received them. They said no they had not and gave me another fax#. To make a long story short, after about a month of this run around I faxed 10 copies to each of the 5 fax #”s that were given to me and finally someone got one of the faxes! But they said that since we were current,nothing could be done and that we needed to be behind in our payments. Since we were going to be behind anyways(as soon as our savings was depleted in about 4 months) we stopped making our payments. We were 2 months behind and I called the bank. They said that they are reaching out to those who qualify via FedEx and we would just have to wait for the Making Home affordable package to come to our house(if of course we were qualified at all). Our house went into default and in our state we would have 60 days before the bank could put a sale date. We finally received the Fed Ex about a week after the default notice. Since we had been so thorough about getiing them ALL the Docs they needed, they had already configured a new payment which was around 31% of our gross. The trial Payments are supposed to consist of 3 and then they would calculate how to distribute the payment between PITI and HOA”s and send us modifation docs to sign. We have just made our 4th trial payment! When I call to find out what is going on with our mod , nobody in any dept. know anthing! The reps tell me that the workout dept.(whom are people you may not disturb) are working with Fanni Mae and are probably waiting on Fannie Mae’s approval. What??? I ask. arent we already approved since we already have a set payment? No they say, in fact a lot of people that were originally given packages turns out do not qualify and are being given other options. These so called options are, paying the amount needed to become current and continue in your current loan, pay the whole loan off, or seek a realtor for a short sale!!!! Are you kidding me!!!!! What kind of assanine options are those!!!!??? The problem is that our Govt. is not holding the banks accountable for this program, and as a result, the banks do not have to answer to anyone! The customer has absolutely noone to turn to for help( not even attorneys) as this not a law but a “Program” and therefore no legal action can be taken. Shame on our Govt. for not following up on how the banks in the program are doing (dirty) business.
I’m also trying to modify/refinance under Making Home Affordable. I tried to modify my Countrywide loan (now BoA) over six months ago and got the runaround with BoA. BoA kept telling me I didn’t qualify, so I contacted the HOPE hotline and attended their useless workshop. I also contacted CCCS who were also useless, although they did submit an online application to get the ball rolling on my modification, but that was back in August.
I’m highly frustrated, but I found a great website in loansafe.org forums (under Countrywide thread) full of stranded homeowners with Countrywide/Bank of America going through the same run around.
LoanSafe’s forum has a great list of BoA direct contacts with their e-mail addresses to help out. For those who are getting stonewalled with their modifications, e-mail Barbara DeSoer, President of Bank of America Home Loans. I sent my e-mail and got a response/call the next day!
Good luck to all, don’t give up & check out the website at:
http://www.loansafe.org
After stringing us along for 5 months, Bank of America denied our home refinance through making homes affordable. According to the councelor we spoke with regarding the terms of the program, credit should not be an issue. However, Bank of America said they have their own requirements and after finding we had credit issues, denied our application. Does anyone know what my next step is? Should I just give up on the process or is there someone I should complain to about Bank of America not following the guidelines of the government program? Any info would be useful.
My loan is through Countrywide and now BofA. Checked in August and found my loan was eligible for Making Home Affordable program.
Called BofA in August and was told that my mortgage was eligible but their computer systems weren’t setup for it yet and could I call back next month?
Called in September, discovered that the woman I talked to was no longer employed there and got someone new. Same story about the computer system, “call back next month”.
Called last week, talked to someone new and was told that because PMI was built into my mortgage that I wasn’t eligible for a modification. Has anyone else run into this? It seems like complete B.S. Ultimately the guy on the phone asked me if I had tried a “traditional refinance” at which point I laughed. I’m $50k in the hole because my equity has disappeared and don’t have that much cash just laying around, so a “traditional refinance” doesn’t work with me.
I believe I’m screwed. Anyone have advice?
I’mso glad I took the time to look up the Making Home Affordable plan and Bank of America today. I have been trying to get approved for a loan modification since summer 2009. A few weeks ago I found out that Bank of America took my house out of foreclosure in September and failed to notify me. I filed bankruptcy earlier this year and gave my homes back to the bank because I got tired of the fight and the Bank decided otherwise. Now, I am stuck with this house and not being offered any assistance from the Bank.
Recently, I have started the modifcation process again, and after many frustrating phone calls and faxes I did get some interesting information today from my rep who was nice enough to not get my blood boiling and cause me to start yelling and cursing at him unlike the guy who called me Friday night. Anyway, today I found out the modification guidelines depend on who your investor is. The company that actually fronted the cash for your loan gets to determine your loans future. Of course, my investor (CIG FHI First Lien Mortgage) is some company I’ve never heard of nor can I find online to find out their guidelines on loan modifications.
Bank of America is a coward by leaving homeowners future up to the investor while they service the clients and benefit from our business. They really know how to stick it to the litte guy. Oh, the irony of all this is that I used to work them in the mortgage department.
At this point, because I had no intention of keeping the house, I am temtped to try legal recourse to get the house foreclosed under my bankruptcy as planned. If not, then I’ll be calling Making Home Affordable to see what options are available since BofA could only tell me to find another job and make more money.
I have been working with BOA since June trying to get the making homes affordable plan. I was told the first time I called that I didn’t qualify, but I told her that I had already checked with the MHA website and that I knew that I did. so she said let me look again. was put on hold for over 30 minutes, she finally came back to the line and said that I would qualify and I had two days to fax over my info and hardship letter. I called every week to every other week and finaly in october I was told that I had been approved and that my new payment would be 812.72 a month and that I had to make sure that the first 3 payment were on time, he said that would be my payment for 5 years then it would increase some. I sent in my first payment and then I set up my second payment and fedex delivered a package for BOA. It was the terms of my modification. the payment was going to be 1092.00 a month for 33 years and they was adding 6875.00 to the principal for interest. that is not a modification that is a refi. I am so upset now I don’t know what to do. So becarful when dealing with Bank of America, they cheat…..
After months of dealing with CW/BAC back in April 2009, again in May, again in June, then October, and yet again here in December.
First, the program is a good one, just Gov. didn’t put the needed Thumb “if you will” on the banks. Second, the banks aren’t in control , it is the original buyer of your mortgage ( the investor/s who bought your loan from your lender, ie: BAC, Wells fargo, etc: they aren’t going to allow your lender to service you, until you are late on their payments , that’s right their payments, as your bank has already been paid for your loan the day it was sold to them , most likely.
Third, they aren’t gonna cut their own throats until you fall delinquent. They figure you are staying current and they like that! So even if your pay, hours, medical bills, are strapping you each month to stay current they don’t care as long as they get their $$.Fourth, then and only then will the banks mail out the notorius fed x package to you , with your new rates and terms , providing you send in all the docs they require, however you may still be denied if you won’t let them add all the late items to the rear known as the arrears, take out a 40 year mortgage , or etc: You get the picture , they are still gonna get their $$$. And if none of this works, they will just foreclose on you at which point they feel they are better off , as you will probably default later anyway. And they would rather just write off the bad loans. So Obama tried, us home owners tried, but what we must learn is that Wall Street and the investors run the financial movement of this world. In the 1990’s we grew the economy through “Technology” it ballooned and then busted. In the 2000’s we boomed in the housing boom and consumers charging away their lives, and that busted. Now the banks win, cause they have straddled all the debt. with huge interest rates on the backs of the middle class, as the poor, God bless them, can’t get credit, and the rich just right it off. This is just my take on all of it , but we all got up today , and it’s just stuff, let it go , if it’s causing you greif just find away to get rid of the stress and move on to a better life , you only get one you know!!
P.S. Bank of America started the 125% LTV program Monday, but if you refinancing, weigh out if it is better to pay cash at closing rather then rolling it in, as $5000.00 at %5.25 rolled into a new 30 year (360 months) was $ 31.00 more a month for me , that equates to $11,170 over 30 years , so if you have the money just pay for your third party fees up front , as the banks only getting around 1100.00 or so. The rest you can’t get around as each state has its Docs/ stamps/ intangible tax. etc and Florida is the worst for a refi.
Has BoA started offering the 125% LTV program to non BoA customers?
I have a Fredde Mac loan serviced by Provident Funding. Provident has denied me twice for a HAMP. Once because they say my payment is not more than 31% of my gross, even though a Freddie Mac representative I met at a NACA event said it is….and the 2nd time because they said the NACA packet was incomplete.
Provident’s only advice to me was to either go into default, or take my business elsewhere through the Freddie Mac “Relief Refinance – Open Access” program. I have been unable to find any bank that is participating in this program, and Freddie Mac will not tell you who is participating due to potential conflict of interest (their words…).
And while my loan is still current (pending Provident actually posting my payment…another game of theirs), my property value is falling due to foreclosures in my neighborhood…which will put me in a whole other mess!
WHY ARE THESE CALLS TO BANK OF AMERICA – MAKING HOME AFFORDABLE – being routed to INDIA ??????? Is BOA NOT FLOUTING THE RULES BY OFFSHORING THESE JOBS??????
My experience with making home affordable has/is nothing more than frustrating. I was with Taylor, bean and Whitiker when the government shut them down. I never had a problem with TBW, in fact I was on an excelerated program. Well, when the government shut down TBW my mortgage was sent to Bank od America. I have had nothing but problems with them. I started recieving harassing calls from them before I even knew they were now the holders of my mortgage. It seams when the government shut down TBW they froze all their assets – this put my mortgage payement in the froze pile. After a couple months of the harasment calls from BoA my family ran into our finances being lowered due to the economy. We were still making our mortgage payements but everything was very tight. I then tried to contact BoA about the making home afordable program. I have sent them all my requested paperwork, recieved their package and signed and returned all their application papers within 24 hours. This was 3 months ago. I have not heard from them since till last week. Last week BoA decided to RAISE my mortgage. Yes that is right, I asked for help lowing my mortgage and in turn they raised it $70 a month. Can any one tell me here to go for help. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul before the mortgage was raised, now Im afraid I wont be able to keep our heads above water. If there is any advice you can give I would greatly appreciate it.
Was anyone told by WAMU they got qualified using the low doc method ? No, not I, and now Chase will not refinance anyone that was marked as low doc by WAMU.
Hello Everyone. Happy new year to all.
After been told to wait for months for the 125%, Bank of America has denied me refinancing under the making home affordable program due to having a non-conforming loan.
Is the Bank providing me with correct information?. Can anyone please assist.?
Why did they say your loan was non-conforming? if you can give us more details maybe someone will have an answer for you.
Thank You for responding. When I inquired from the bank they stated its just the type of loan I have. No other explanation was given. Since then I have been trying to find out if making home affordable its only for certan types of loan. Can you still assist. Thank You
I too as was given the run around from BOA. I initiated my efforts to refinance under Obama’s Making Home Affordable program since February 2009.
I have made over 20+ phone calls to BOA, listed complaints with the bank, Consumer Affairs and the OCC. I was given miss information by BOA for the 1st 7 months. Original I was told there was no such plan existed, only regurlar refi is available to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac has not issued the required guidelines for such loans, and names where being place on waiting list for call backs.
Time past…..now in Aug, I was told that there were only doing loans without existing PMI, and no guildelines exist for loans with PMI. The underwriting for my loan is Fannie Mae. So I contacted Fannie Mae again & they advised that the lender “BOA” have guidelines to underwrite loan.
Ok….so far, I received little results from my complaints; however, I called again in November. Originally the Associates that answered the call stated there was no such program, except for modification if you are having a hardship, and you have to be deliquent and show proof of hardship.
I respectfuly advised the associates that she didn’t know what she was talking about and advised her how the program works, referrred her to the website for detail information, and demanded to speak to a loan officer that specialize in the program. After holding for 15 minutes, she apologize and stated there was such a program and the loan officer could help.
However, the loan officer was for modifcation only and she transferred me to another officer for MHAP. Ok….the new loan officer advised that I qualify and gave me a rate. I asked for it in writting before commiting to pay and up front $400 application fee. I was denied but advised that once the $400 is paid the GFE will be sent with application.
Ok…I paid the application fee and advise that the application will be sent immediately. I received the documents almost 2 weeks later with errors. I corrected the errors, spoke with the processor and fax the required document the same day.
Ok, it is now Jan 5, and I’m still waiting on a closing date…..go figure. When asked why it take so long for a cut and dry refi, with credit score over 700. I was told the credit didn’t matter on the Obama’s plan and they are backed up with request. It has taken me literally almost 1 year to get to this far into the process, and it is a shame that I missed out on rates that was as low as 4.65%. I find this total process ridiculous, but this is a new year and I am claiming a successful refinance to come. Blessings to all you who are still trying to refinance or remodify your home….you are not alone, hold on in there and don’t give up.
I am similarly a victim of this plan. Excellent credit, never missed a payment. Sitting on a 30 year fixed at 5.75% while I watched the 4.75%, 5.0% rates come and go, with me on the sidelines. Problem is, the loan I had included “Lender-Paid” PMI and my bank (GMAC) is ignoring the Freddie Mac rules around these loans qualifying, and basically saying, you can’t refinance. Thus, unless the market goes up 10% (putting me at 20% equity), I will be sitting on this loan with no way out.
Anyone know if/when this Making Home Affordable plan will be available through other lenders? I found out my loan is not owned by Fannie Mae, but Wells Fargo, and I cannot qualify for this plan. It is serviced through IndyMac.
Hello, I work for B of A Home Loans and I can let you know if you qualify for the MHA program in seconds. All I need is your B of A/Countrywide loan #. If you qualify, it only takes us about 2 weeks from start to finish…unlike the 800 # (Black Hole) you might have already tried. Please let me know if you would like to hear more info.
951-493-9930 or paul.sabo@bankofamerica.com
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