Where Are All The Mortgage Adjustments

Ever since the introduction of the Making Home Affordable and (HAMP) were implemented it became thought that the amount of modify my mortgage approved by servicers would balloon and that foreclosures would gradually decrease. In fact, exactly the converse has happened. Foreclosures are rising at a record pace while servicers continue to deny individuals adjustments on loans that should never have been approved. How did this happen and what can be done to fix it? The blame is shared by both the government and the banks themselves.

When the MHA and HAMP programs were revealed there was widespread relief among homeowner's. Sure there had been panic about the rapidly falling value of homes and adjustable rate noteswere getting out of hand, but now the government had stepped in and offered a solution. What was not known at the time was that the MHA and HAMP programs were only available to those with loans under Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Immediately, many borrowers were turned away by their loan company and simply told, “Sorry, you don’t qualify under these terms”. As a result, letters went out to governors, representatives, senators and anyone else who would listen in a position to change these programs. The response? Nothing. In its mind, Congress had done its part. There are obama loan modification programs out there, people should use them.

The only problem with this is that the guidelines and subsequent red tape that ensued proved to be an almost insurmountable barrier for individual homeowners to surmount. Countless stories in blogs, interviews and news reports all tell the same tale: a homeowner contacting their mortgage companies to try a loan modifications, being yanked around from different agents and offices and being told conflicting updates on the process, all while time ticks down on their property being foreclosed. mortgage companies are not required to tell homeowners why their notes modification has been turned down, and there are few set guidelines or criteria that the government requires lenders to conform to. After meeting a few basic guidelines, it is entirely up to the individual lenders on whether to approve a loan modificationsor not. All this has done is increase the confusion of the process by introducing conflicting accounts of what situations qualify for a loan adjustments.

It is little known that mortgage companies receive subsidies from the government under these programs for setting a borrower in a “trial loan modification”. This is a program in which the banks lowers the payment due on the loans while they review placing the borrower into a permanent modifications. There is no guarantee of a permanent settlement on the debt, and yet the lenders still receives money from the government merely for thinking about helping someone.

How Does The “Cramdown” Legislation Affect Note Workout?

Last month House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said modify my note programs may be helping more homeowners but they aren’t anywhere near the level they should be. These programs are coming in the form of the Obama’s Making Home Affordable (MHA) and HAMP, plus many more attorney mortgage modification options that are offered by the mortgage companies. In general, homeowners are very much in agreement with Barney Frank’s assessment about Loan Adjustment and Loan Modifications Programs.

Earlier this year, the “cramdown” legislation, passed the Senate but not the House. The “cramdown” permitted bankruptcy judges to Mortgage Adjustment primary home loans; basically it gave them the authority to force the credit unions to do a Note Modifications. The reason it didn’t pass the House is that mortgage lenders promised they’d take care of the problem and help families avoid foreclosure through Loan Modifications.

So far, mortgage companies are not taking care of the problem and are far from the Governments expectations of providing Note Workout to homeowners. Too many homeowners that should be qualifying for the Note Modifications are still being denied. mortgage companies such as Bank of America are at the top of the list for not meeting Government expectations on banks. Remember, these financial institutions received millions of dollars of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money or easier to say, tax payers tax money that was implemented during the Bush Administration!

Those in the credit unions industry must understand that if there are not a significant number of Loan Modifications to stop this problem that there is a strong argument to revive the bankruptcy “cramdown” legislation. It seems extremely strong that the way the servicers are handle Loan Adjustment that it is not sufficient enough to handle the current problem. It will surely strengthen the comeback of the “cramdown” legislation and this time it would probably pass.

Last month many cities hits double digit marks for unemployment. This can only follow with elevating homes needing Loan Modifications to avoid foreclosure as unemployment correlates to the number of foreclosures.

In addition, seniors close to retirement have found that their retirement is gone, lost by Wall Street. Or they had to borrower from retirement to pay their mortgage because they couldn’t get a Note Adjustment. Some have even borrowed money from their credit cards and have racked up a significant amount of debt to just pay their mortgage.

Some homeowners have filed for bankruptcy to relieve themselves of all debt but their home loan so that they can qualify for a Loan Adjustment. If you plan on doing this make sure your Attorney carves the home out of the bankruptcy and that it is written clearly in the paperwork. In general, you will need that specific information from the Bankruptcy Attorney in order to qualify for a Mortgage Workout. Consulting with a Loan Modification Attorney and having them handle your loan modification would be the best bet to get your Mortgage Adjustment done correctly.