Frank Collins asked:




The home loan industry has changed stated income loans requirements if you don’t know yet. Most lenders now want full documentation loans and borrowers qualifying by using traditional debt to income ratio calculations. This directly affects the high cost housing markets like California, Florida, and the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut as well as parts of Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The reason is a lot of homeowners in these markets used adjustable rate mortgages and qualified by using stated income, stated assets and some instances no verification of employment.

The adjustments for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) will continue through 2010 and into 2011. Most homeowners will be unable to refinance due to loss of equity in their home, their job, or other hardship. So, their best option is to negotiate with their loan servicing company or let the home go into foreclosure. Homeowners need to understand that when they send in a payment to the lender or loan servicer, that is their primary business to collect debts not negotiate with the public to change terms or modify interest rates. Furthermore, in a majority of the cases the borrowers do not get through to the right person or worse yet call them back in a timely fashion until they are close to foreclosure.

If a borrower has a truthful hardship and the bank is slow to react or refuses to listen what happens is a foreclosure results and the borrowers credit is hurt for seven years. When you are facing this situation and getting nowhere with a business and you don’t get the results you need in a timely manner, you should hire an attorney who specializes in foreclosures and loan modifications!

There are many stories from borrowers who say they most banks will not discuss your situation unless you are behind two to four months in payments. Once that occurs, your hard earned credit scores from years of being responsible are wiped out. Furthermore, you may never be eligible for a home loan at market rates for quite some time.

The solution is to use a loan modification company that actually does have an attorney on staff to get answers and responses quickly so your situation is resolved quickly. You end up keeping your home, getting a loan modification, reducing your interest rate to an affordable level, and in some cases reducing your loan principal but there’s no guarantees. An experienced debt representative from the attorney backed loan modification company will call you to see if you do qualify based on certain criteria.

Although, some firms will take your money even if you don’t qualify. Those are the ones you have to watch out for. They hit you when you’re down. Work with a loan modification company that has success, years of experience, paralegals and an attorney on staff. You will feel more at ease knowing you have the best team working on a solution for you whether it be a short sale, a deed in lieu of foreclosure, tax ramifications of short sale, or a loan modification.

A lawyer who specializes in negotiating with lenders can achieve magical results especially if they find RESPA or TILA violations to use for leverage. A real estate attorney understands how to speak their language and get the lender to negotiate. When a homeowners uses an Attorney, the lender’s loss mitigation and legal department become very receptive and responsive. Get a good legal team on your side to stop foreclosure and get a loan modification!

Sara

Loan Modification Attorney asked:


A Home Loan Modification can help you stop foreclosure and stay in your home. But if you’re like most homeowners, you’re probably wondering how it will affect your credit, and whether in a good or bad way. Unfortunately, there’s no single answer—it all depends on how far behind you are and the kind of mortgage loan modification you’ll be granted.

Best-case scenarios



Technically, since you’re not borrowing any money, a home loan modification won’t hurt your credit score. If you’re paying less in interest, you have a smaller debt burden. And since most lenders prefer an interest rate reduction, there’s a pretty good chance that a Home loan modification will improve your credit score.

The implications are even better if your lender forgives part of the principal, although this is less common. If they write off $50,000 from your loan amount, it will show up on your report as a smaller loan, which can increase your credit score.



The lender factor

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way. It also depends on how your lender reports the home loan modification to the credit bureaus. Many of them will consider it paid for less than the original amount owed, which will count against your score. If you’re already in foreclosure, the impact on your credit can be substantial. Of course, compared to a short sale or a foreclosure, a Mortgage Loan Modification is still the best way to maintain your credit standing.

Tax implications



One of the early problems with Loan modification is that the amount forgiven is usually taxable. That means if your debt is reduced by $50,000, the IRS views it as income and imposes the corresponding tax. This can catch homeowners off guard during tax season, as many of them don’t know the tax implications at the time of the modification.

To avoid such incidents, the IRS announced in 2007 that Loan modification would no longer be classified as “prohibited transactions.” This applied to all loans originated from January 2004 to July 2007, the peak of the sub-prime boom, and those due to adjust from January 2009 to July 2012. If your mortgage falls under these categories, you won’t have to file a 1099 declaring the change as taxable.

A loan modification is much like going to court: you can save your money and get a court-appointed lawyer, or you can invest in professional representation and get the best mortgage assistance. Your loss mitigation won’t happen overnight, but if with a capable Loan Modification Attorney, you can be sure you’re in good hands.



AUBREY