Monday, December 22, 2008

The truth about home loan workout plans

By J. Ochs

Right now the country is seeing record high foreclosure rates. People across the nation are literally walking away from their homes and letting them go back to the bank. The important thing to realize here is that the banks do not want the homes back. Banks are not in the real estate business, they are in the banking business. Why is this important? If you are in a situation where your mortgage payments are too high due to a financial difficulty, an adjustable rate mortgage, or other reason, there are programs available to re-negotiate the terms of your existing loan to allow for you to stay in your home and get back on top of your home loan.

Loan Modification, Loss Mitigation and Home Loan workout programs are some options to consider. If you enroll in any of the aforementioned programs, you should be cautious about the company you work with. Make sure they're reputable! A good company can make the programs incredibly successful in offering you financial relief.

Take, for example, a borrower with a $400,000 mortgage loan at 8%, living in a home worth $340,000. Once the home has been foreclosed, the bank has to either re-list the home on the market or sell it at an auction. Re-listing or auctioning off the home could potentially add another $60,000 in losses for the bank.

In this example, bank will lose at least $120,000 if a client decides to "walk away". Through modification and lowering interest rate to 5.25% on a 30yr fixed term, bank will make close to $400,000 in future interest payments. The result is a win-win for all parties involved.

Homeowners can occasionally be successful at working out loan modifications on their own, however default rates with attorney-backed modifications are 5% or less. Self-help modifications are defaulting at over 50%. This is why banks prefer to work with attorneys.

The costs vary for this type of program but are usually fully refundable if the attorneys are not able to modify your home loan. The types of workout remedies that they are able to achieve are amazing. They range from interest rate reductions, lower monthly payments, extended payment terms, and loan principal reduction.

We can give you a free consultation to see what can be done to best fix the financial fiasco you're dealing with. If you're having problems making your current mortgage payment or you're dealing with an adjustable rate mortgage that doesn't work for you anymore, give us a call at 1-888-282-1011 and get some more information about our loan modification program! - 16036

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