Don’t lose your house to foreclosure

We’re dedicated to bring our audience information that matters to us and to you. We’re featuring a weekly series of articles, tidbits, advice and more about what we’re facing in 2009. We have to deal with a failing economy brought to us by greedy folks that ran pyramid schemes with our money and by previous Government that just didn’t give a crap about us. Our hope and dream have come true by electing our new President and with him we will stand to make a difference.

Still we cannot just sit by and wait for something to happen. We must read, teach and educate ourselves. Our hope here is to do just that. Please send us your email with your recommendations, advice and comments.

This week we’re looking into saving your house. Although you may think that it cannot happen to you, it’s happening around you and it’s real as the night is dark.

We’ve all heard about this Stimulus plan and how it’s supposed to help the fail housing market and you’re probably wondering how it’s going to help you.

You’ve fallen 3 to 5 months behind on your mortgage and have no clue what to do about making your next payment. You were sold a house that really couldn’t afford, but the bank gave it to you anyway and now your take home pay for whatever reason does not add up. The market took a dive and now your house is worth way less than what you pay for it. You’ve called the bank and they haven’t done anything about it. You’re just sitting idle until the Sheriff shows up at your door.

What happened before the real estate took a dump is that banks were selling folks houses that they couldn’t afford because they didn’t really care about you even though you they did. The second you signed those papers, they would quickly turn around and sell your mortgage to a sucker bank that thought that they were smarter than everyone else because they would quickly turn around and do the same to another sucker and it goes on and on. The one thing those banks didn’t realize is that someone will lose at the end because the last buyer will be stuck with a bad loan. Why is it bad you asked…If you stop paying your mortgage for whatever reason, that bank will fail?

It’s actually a legal and sophisticated type of Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from profit. So in other words the bank s were paying investors with their own money until they run out and the last investors to the scheme loses.

If you fall behind on your mortgage, contact your lender immediately to avoid foreclosure. Most lenders are willing to work with you if they believe you’re acting in good faith and the situation is temporary. Some lenders may reduce or suspend your payments for a short time. When you resume regular payments, though, you may have to pay an additional amount toward the past due total. Other lenders may agree to change the terms of the mortgage by extending the repayment period to reduce the monthly debt. Ask whether additional fees would be assessed for these changes, and calculate how much they total in the long term.

If you and your lender cannot work out a plan, contact a housing counseling agency. Some agencies limit their counseling services to homeowners with FHA mortgages, but many offer free help to any homeowner who’s having trouble making mortgage payments. Call the local office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the housing authority in your state, city, or county for help in finding a legitimate housing counseling agency near you.

You may even qualify for a mortgage refinancing or a loan modification. Base on the Stimulus package that President has given the surviving banks, they have more flexibility to work with bad mortgage holders, but there are many fine prints attached to this bailout. If you are in an upside down mortgage (where your house is worth less than what you owe), you may as well forget about refinancing, unless you have an FHA mortgage.

To qualify for a mortgage modification, your home first of all must be yours (owner occupied). If you bought a house for investment, you’re SOL. You must show that you are suffering from some type of hardship by documenting your income. You will not qualify either if you’re been paying your mortgage in full month after month up until you apply.

The details of the President plan will not be released until March 4. Keep an eye out for this information. In the meantime, call your bank and ask for the loss mitigation department and tell them you’re interested in a loan modification. If that fail, follow the step below to see if you qualify.

You may call 1-800-781-7399 to talk with an IndyMac Federal customer service specialist and find out if you qualify for a loan modification under their program or alternatives that may help them keep your home. Once a borrower has provided financial information to an IndyMac Federal customer service representative, IndyMac Federal will evaluate whether a loan modification may be available and, if so, provide a proposed offer to the borrower by mail.

Once a borrower has received a proposed modification offer, all it takes for them to bring their mortgage current and qualify for a final modified mortgage is to:

• sign and return the enclosed Modification Agreement along with a check for their modified monthly mortgage payment and
• provide verification of their income to confirm that they qualify for the proposed modification.

The borrower must then continue to make timely payments at the modified monthly payment amount and comply with all other terms of their mortgage agreements. If the borrower’s verified income information demonstrates that they do not qualify for the proposed modification, IndyMac Federal will contact them to discuss alternatives that may help them keep their home.