The Obama Administration introduced a comprehensive Financial Stability Plan to address key
problems at the heart of the current economic crisis and to attempt to get the economy back on track. A
critical piece of that effort is Making Home Affordable, a plan to stabilize the housing market and help up
to 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program gives up to 4 to 5 million homeowners with loans
owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac an opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly
payments. The Home Affordable Modification Program commits $75 billion to keep up to 3 to 4 million
Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.
While you can contact your lender directly and try to renegotiate your own loan, it may
not yield the hoped for results. Lack of experience, not knowing lender’s procedures, not knowing
qualification guidelines or necessary paperwork, and the large amount of calls required to generate response
back from the lender are all impediments to success.
Another problem is that lenders and servicers are very busy with homeowners trying to
save their homes from foreclosure and they do not have the man power or the capabilities to act quickly for
everyone. Also, the lender’s loss mitigation department responsible for dealing with delinquent homeowners
works for the lender. Lenders will look out for their interest first – that is common business sense. Common
sense suggests that the homeowner needs a professional on their side so that their case is pursued
effectively and not lost in the system.
The first step in the process of loan modification is to determine whether or not you
qualify for a loan modification. This determination is made through a review of your financial status, net
cash flow analysis and gross income verification. Of all the documents the lender requires to modify your
loan, a correctly completed financial statement is among the most important, likely THE most important
document you provide. The lender will not instruct you on what they are looking for on this document or how
to fill it out correctly. If this document is not completed correctly, your modification can be denied
immediately. We collect and analyze the financial information to ensure the financial statement is a true
reflection of your situation, and qualifies you for a mortgage loan modification.
It is very important to know the lender’s guidelines and income windows within which they
will work. We know and understand these guidelines.
Another document submitted to the lender is the hardship letter which explains what has
happened in your life to cause a hardship that has affected your ability to pay your mortgage in a timely
manner. Without guidance, this document, if completed incorrectly, can cause a denial of your modification
from your lender. We review this document for content and will help to prepare this document with our
clients.
Once the modification documents are completed and the supporting documentation is
collected from the client, we submit the modification request to the lender for approval.
After your package is submitted it may take 5-10 calls to make sure it has been received
and assigned to a responsible person or team. Once the lender receives the package and acknowledges receipt,
the real work starts.
If you are attempting the modification yourself, be prepared to spend as much as 10-30
hours tracking your case. The lender’s modification department is not only working for the lender, they are
also very likely overworked, and this is a relatively new process. The lender’s employees have only so many
hours during the day to take calls. Thus, it is imperative to have a knowledgeable and focused individual to
deal with them to provide the information they need. You do not want to finally get a hold of them then
waste your time (and theirs) by not having the information they need. It is very easy for a homeowner
attempting the loan modification process on their own to become very frustrated and thus not obtain the
hoped for results simply because they do not understand the procedure and are not maximizing the
effectiveness of each contact with the lender.
Once the lender has completed the submission, review and processing stages, the next step
is to reach an agreement with the lender/servicer. This last portion also requires expertise. Assuming the
process went well, you will most likely receive a Trial Modification Agreement from your lender. This could
be include a reduction in interest rate, reduction/elimination of the penalties, forbearance, principle loan
reduction or a combination of these items. It is important to make sure that the terms match what was
requested when the modification was submitted. We review this Trial Modification Agreement to verify that it
matches the terms we requested, and we review the document with our clients prior to them signing this form.
We return the signed Agreement to the lender with any additional documentation they request. Again, much
follow up with phone calls is required to verify that the lender received the documents sent and that there
is nothing else they require. There is also follow up required on the monthly trial modification payments to
verify the lender received them and applied them correctly.
Trail Modifications are usually for a three month period and you should receive your
Permanent Modification within those three months. Again, we meet with our clients to review this document
with them prior to signing/notarizing the new, modified, Mortgage Note. Once more there is follow up to
verify that the lender received the final signed documents.
Please contact us for a free review of your situation. If we think we can help you, we
request a refundable retainer, which is refundable if we open your file but cannot obtain a modification for
you.
Below, you can download Pre-approval and Payment Reduction Estimator Documents for the Making Homes Affordable Program. Please download and complete these forms. You can either scan and email them, or complete and fax them to the below information. and send to us by clicking the "contact us" buttons on this website. The below documents are provided in both MS Word format and PDF format. As soon as you complete these forms, please attach them to the following email: Kathryn@mwilkening.com or Fax. 303-763-9065.
Pre-Qualification Forms for the Making Homes Affordable Loan Modification Program
Loan Modification Payment Reducation Estimate Forms
You can also view our web resources page to obtain further information and links to websites and articles regarding loan modification laws, loan modification fraud information and other resources that may be helpful to you. Thank you for visiting mwilkening.com, and good luck!
The Law Office of
Murray Wilkening, P.C.
7691 N. Shaffer Parkway, Suite B
Littleton, Colorado 80127
Tel. 303-763-8988 Fax. 303-763-9065
E-mail: murray@mwilkening.com |
Loan Modification office:
Kathryn Freeman, Loan Modification Manager
3515 S. Tamarac Drive, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80237
(303) 785-2858
Email: Kathryn@mwilkening.com |
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