Stop Home Foreclosure

Lets be pristinely clear. The term Loan Modification means changing or modifying the terms of an EXISTING loan. A Refinance is a NEW LOAN usually done to cash out some of the equity in a house or to get a better interest rate that now exists. However you want to say it, its effects are similar. The conditions to apply for loan modification differ from refinancing in that the application for loan modification requires proof of hardship. This is not difficult to do in todays economy.

Loan modification involves an existing loan and allows the home owner to renegotiate their home loan and to find terms to the mortgage that are beneficial not only to the home owner, but to the banks. Loan modification can help demonstrate to the lender that you want to save your home and help to work out some type of plan that will in turn resolve the dangers of foreclosure. Loan modification allows homeowners and lenders to change the terms of a loan in order to help the borrower stay in the home and avoid foreclosure. It is a process that must be understood completely and thoroughly.

According to a recent report, throughout the country more than 600,000 mortgages have been affected by foreclosure actions. Home owners who are facing hardship with their own mortgages and are contemplating foreclosure are looking for other options. If you can show hardship in no uncertain terms, perhaps in the form of an income/expense statement of some other form brought about by recent events, the lender may help make the terms of the loan conform to fit that data in a workable and mutually beneficial fashion. The only way to know for sure is to enter discussions with the lender. A hardship is what can help you to achieve a loan modification and in turn save your home from plummeting into foreclosure. Home loan modifications are established for homeowners just like you who have lost your job, had a decrease in your income or are suffering from a hardship that may be keeping you from work.

Loan modification programs are becoming more popular. Generally this is in the form of a lower interest rate with a fixed loan program. Many of the programs vary in how they work. Contact your lender and advise them of your hardship and get more information. Each mortgage lender or servicer will have different loan modification programs and processes. As mentioned before, loan modification programs are just becoming mainstream and therefore there is little standardization but as time goes by the process should settle in. Take the time to educate yourself so you can take advantage of the billions of dollars in homeowner assistance programs now being offered.

Loan modifications used to be reserved for borrowers whose mortgages became delinquent because of job losses, divorce proceedings, or illness, but today they are also open to those individuals who are suffering in the aftermath of adjustable rate mortgages skyrocketing and placing the monthly payment beyond the means of the borrower. The loan representative can use several methods to accomplish the lowering of the payment such as reduce the interest rate to as low as 2%, extend the terms of the loan (possibly up to 40 years), forebear loan principal at no interest. Forbearance is a negotiation process with your mortgage lender to work out the delinquent payments you have not paid due to your financial hardship. The most common loan modifications are lowering the interest rate, reducing the principal balance, ‘fixing’ adjustable interest rates, pardoning of payment defaults & fees, or any combination of the above. It is unknown how long the window of time of government assistance programs and loan modification programs will last.

A person could, in the long term pull cash out of the house, however it would not come in the form of a lump sum, as in a refinance, but in increments. A person may recover from his hardship and earn a higher income again. His expenses would still be lower. This net positive income difference would be the payment plan and if managed correctly could present new opportunities in the future by the existence of new capital to either pay down the mortgage or invest in ideas for more income or for whatever else one might use an equity draw.

Due to these government assistance programs, the time has never been better for homeowners to take action and request that their loans be modified towards better terms and a lower interest rate. It is acclaimed as the top solution to prevent foreclosure rates from reaching appalling heights. This is a time to make a hardship work FOR YOU. A loan modification will decrease your monthly payments, lower your rate, avoid foreclosure, save your home, and in the long run after recovery put cash in your pocket.