Applying for a loan modification when your world has been turned upside down and you are facing financial hardship can be difficult and frustration, to say the very least.
The recommendations I have for you if you are encountering “we lost your paperwork”, “your request was denied”, “you didn’t respond to our request in time”, etc. is to do the following:
· Request to have your financial hardship package transferred to “the Office of the President” at your servicer (every servicer has a division set up for “special cases”, although the name of the division may vary slightly from one servicer to the next) and request their assistance in resolving your concern (lost paperwork, not eligible, etc.). If the person you talk to at your servicer refuses to do so, inform them you are contacting the State Attorney General’s office. Send letters to back up your phone request. Expect to be told "no" by being steered away from your request - don't accept no for an answer, if you've looked at your numbers, checked the program guidelines and are pretty sure you are eligible!
· If your Home Affordable Modification Program request was denied, your servicer must provide you with the reasons in writing and the calculations used that resulted in the denial. If you have not received these reasons, they are vague, or incorrect, get to your local HUD Housing Counselor to have them help you escalate and/or obtain the reasons for the denial so they may be disputed and appealed if necessary – servicers make mistakes all the time. Request your case be transferred to “the Office of the President” at your servicer, if you didn't do so already, and get to their more intelligent, better trained personnel in that division already. You will need to be diligent and persistent in reaching the HUD Housing Counselors, as their workload is tremendous, so be patient with them when you reach them - they are on YOUR side!
· If any of the above occur, and you believe your servicer is incorrect, many homeowners find resolution through the following resources, often times pursuing all resources at the same time:
-Oregon Attorney General Consumer Complaint: https://www.doj.state.or.us/finfraud/concompform.shtml (or look up whoever it is for your State). The Attorney General's Office contacts the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Service who in tunr contacts the Office of the Comptroller or other regulatory agency for your lender.
- Contact your elected officials giving them a brief, concise synopsis (i.e.”I’ve been working for 9 months/2 years to obtain financial hardship assistance due to lost work/reduced income/medical expense, and my home is about to be foreclosed upon when we and our housing counselor think we are eligible for modification”) of your financial hardship and response from your servicer and request they help you resolve this matter with your servicer: (Senator Jeff Merkley http://merkley.senate.gov/ ; Senator Ron Wyden http://wyden.senate.gov ; US Representative Greg Walden http://walden.house.gov/ are the Southern Oregon contacts; http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/ are some national lookups for you)
- If you believe your servicer is mishandling your request for modification, you may also attempt to get the assistance of the Secretary Inspector General of TARP at the US Treasury, and maybe they’ll assign an auditor to review your file. Their website is http://www.sigtarp.gov/ and their phone number is 1-(877) SIG-2009.
Do any or all of the above - you may have to fight tooth and nail to hang on to your home, so hang on to your original reasons for wanting to do so...you may need to remind yourself of them when you are in the heat of battle. Be careful - there are boatloads of misinformation out there. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So, to recap the above recommended steps to take if you have found your request for financial assistance not proceeding with your servicer:
1) Call your servicer (look up the CEO of their bank on the Internet, and ask for them by name in the “Office of the President”. BRIEFLY explain you find it necessary to request your file be transferred to them and are filing a complaint with your State Attorney General Department of Justice, if you intend to do so.
2) File a Consumer Complaint with the Attorney General Department of Justice.
3) Contact your elected officials - US Representative and Senators as outlined above.
4) Call your servicer every day if you have a Trustee Sale Date pending within the next 30 days (applies to non-judicial foreclosure states/processes). If your loan is being considered for the Home Affordable Modification Program, they are supposed to complete that process before foreclosing, attempting to review every other option available. Many states also have specific requirements and steps that must be followed before foreclosure proceedings may be completed - many servicers aren't abiding by these rules!
5) Call your automated Trustee Sale line or go to the Trustee’s website noted on the Notice of Trustee Sale if it was posted at your home to begin the foreclosure proceedings. By entering your Trustee Sale number, you can find out if a date has been postponed or cancelled.
My sincerest hope for you is that you are able to reach the goal of staying in your home, and I wish you much success in accomplishing that goal.
See you out there!
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