What You Should Know about Loan Modifications

If you’re way behind on your mortgage, or possibly even facing foreclosure, you may want to consider a loan modification to save your home. This process fine tunes the current contract, and changes it to the current status of the borrower in order to bring the interest rate and payment down. It also decreases the principal balance, transforms an adjustable rate into a fixed rate, forgive delinquent payments, and even stop auctions and foreclosure actions. It is a good option – if the homeowner is qualified.

There are many ways a lender can determine if someone is qualified for a modification. They usually consider a borrower qualified if the person wasn’t able to receive disclosures within a specific time; if the homeowner is involved in possible rate adjustments; if the lender would opt to renegotiate his loans than have his home foreclosed; or if the borrower is currently experiencing situations, such as death, military service, divorce, loss of job, separation, and sickness.

Aside from qualifications, here are some things you need to remember when they are thinking of applying for a loan modification.

Loans Can Be Modified Depending On Your Agreement. The bad news is that lenders are reluctant to say “yes” to modification because they get a lesser interest after this. The good news is that loan modification is gaining a lot of popularity these days, so lenders will have no choice but to approve requests.

Loan Modification Is Not Similar To Debt Consolidation Or Refinancing. What debt consolidation usually does is to join together a group of unprotected debts into a program that offers lower payments. This does not involve mortgages alone, and it usually requires the borrower to apply give a down payment, an appraisal, and a lot of fees to get a new mortgage. This is not recommended to the borrower, as he has already reached his financial limit.  Loan modification, on the other hand, aims to reformat an existing loan.

The process of Loan Modification is quite systematic. What this means is that you should be organized. The first step you should do is to prepare any documents related to your financial situation, income, and mortgage details. These documents are needed by legal professionals when they are preparing a letter for your loan application. When it is received, the mortgage terms are renegotiated to show a lower monthly payment. There are other steps required, and it will be your responsibility to ask your lender about it. Doing so may mean the difference between saving your house and losing it.    
 
The application process varies. There are instances where you will see some results before three weeks. Some may take many months if FHA guaranteed loans are included.  In the meantime, lenders have the choice to stop foreclosure proceedings and even the sale of a home. The good thing about this is that you don’t have to pay one mortgage payment, and then use this period to start building anew. Since the majority of credible lenders want you to be their customer for a long time, they will do their best to make sure that the process is finished on time.