On a rare occassion someone has a really good story about a great loan modication they got.  We were talking to a grocery truck driver the other day who got an unsolicited loan modification from his bank - in other words the bank called him.  He was not late on his payments or anything.  The bank was just trying to take care of their portfolio, and this guy stumbled into a great deal that lowered his payment by a few hundred dollars.  Great for him...but very rare.

Normally what we hear on a regular basis is one of two things: Either someone has a great story about how they "are going to" get a loan modification, which means they are in the process and have not got one yet.  Or they have a story about how they got taken for $1,500 to $5,000, but never got a loan mod at all, or their loan mod terms are terrible.  People in the 1st category are normally full of hope, and people in the 2nd category don't have anything nice to say at all.

We are very sorry if you already spent a bunch of money thinking you are going to get a great deal on your loan modification.  The last thing you need in this situation is for someone to take advantage of you, but we see it all the time.  


Here Are Facts to Back up the High Level of Failure with Loan Modifications

Obama’s Making Homes Affordable (MHA) program has falsely increased excitement about loan modifications. 

According to the U.S. Treasury Dept ONLY about 9% of people who need mortgage relief are getting it through loan modifications whether it is with MHA program or otherwise.

Out of the 9% that were helped, the US Office of Thrift Supervision reports that 24% are delinquent within 2 to 3 months and Fitch Ratings reports 65% to 75% default within 12 months.  

We regularly run into people that have a hard time at first believing that the failure rate for loan modifications are so high.  This is probably because it is human nature to hold out for hope.  And while it seems like the information we are providing tends to decrease hope, knowing what is really going on will help you make a better decision for you and those around you.  There is hope in moving on with your life and getting that fresh start that most people in your situation regularly express that they need.

The truth is there is rarely hope in loan modifications, because the banks do not care that your home is no longer worth what you owe.  The banks HARDLY EVER take this cold hard fact into consideration by reducing the principal balance.  In fact they do the opposite by adding your past due debt to the principal balance, and in many cases you then have to pay interest on that too.  So even if you are one of the few that gets a loan modification, and you are even one of the fewer that continues to make those loan mod payments, how long will it be before your home is once again worth what you owe?  That is an analysis we can help you with if you really want to know the answer to that question.  But in most cases the truth is it will be a very long time.  You would be better off putting your money elsewhere.

We constantly run into those people that swear (literally) by the success of loan mods.  They will tell you what is written on this page is not true, and that we are the bad people spreading lies.  So we offer you a few links to look for yourself to see the problems with these government run programs, and what these institutions have to report on themselves.  We have already done the research, and the research proves that these programs are strict, unsuccessful, and function just like you would expect a government program to function - broken!  However, if you have some free time on your hands and you want to do some boring and often confusing reading, we suggest you search out the fact for yourself and see what you find.  In the mean time we are here to help you with professional and compassionate service to help see you through these tough times.

This report was created in March of 2010 and is an independent audit of HAMP (Loan Mod Program)
Click Here to See the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Report

The US Office of Thrift Supervision is Part of the US Dept. of Treasury
Click Here to Read the US Office of Thrift Supervision Report

They Try to Make it Sound Good, but Look at the Chart on Page 4
Click Here to See the Report HAMP Created on It's Own Program

This is the Actual Modification Program that is "Supposed" to Help Homeowners
Click Here to Read the HAMP Directives that Outline the Home Affordable Modification Program

This is the New Program that was Created because HAMP Failed
Click Here to Read the HAFA Directives that Outline the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives

Or go onto Google and type in HAMP Failure and look at all of the hits you'll get from all kinds of sources: About 5,980,000 Results.