Mortgage Modification Companies

If you are looking to choose from the many mortgage modification companies out there then you must choose carefully. Every day that one listens to the news there is some lawsuit or charge against one of the many mortgage modification companies playing in this arena.
Examples:
1) Florida's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against four South Florida companies that allegedly collected upward of $1 million in illegal upfront fees ...
2) Last week, the commission brought lawsuits against four more mortgage modification companies, advancing an enforcement campaign involving 23 states ...
3) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on mortgage modification company scams. Operation loan lies is a national law enforcement effort by the FTC and ...
I would check with the Better Business Bureau to see if the modification company that you are considering has a lot of complaints against it. I would think every company probably will have a one or two complaints against it. Just look for an abnormally high number of complaints against it. Remember you can't please every one.
I have had my mortgage modified and it does take a lot of effort from you. Remember the end result is worth it. Your end goal is to lower your monthly mortgage payment so that you can stay in your house. Some of the methods that the mortgage company will use to modify your loan are listed below:
    * lowering the mortgage interest rate
    * reducing the principal balance
    * fixing adjustable interest rates within the mortgage
    * increasing the loan term throughout the mortgage
    * forgiveness of payment defaults and fees
    * or any combination of the above
Your lender is going to ask you for a lot of financial information. Basically they want to see the state of your financial affairs and make sure that if they do indeed help you get to a lower mortgage payment that you can afford it.


Mortgage Modification Company

This will depend on how confident you think your are with negotiating with your own mortgage company. Here is a simple guide on how to negotiate a mortgage modification with your mortgage company which should help you with that answer.
How to Negotiate a Mortgage Modification with Your Lender Company
   1. Make sure you know the state of your finances before contacting your lender. Determine how much income you are bringing in each month. How much you use to pay your bills and where you can cut expenses. Ask a free counseling service for some mortgage modification help and some help by putting together a financial analysis. The counselor can also help with the negotiations with your lender.
   2. Next, contact your lender and have an idea of what you need. Tell them what your situation is and what you can offer to help your situation.
   3. Come up with some kind of an answer or mortgage modification plan to the lender's question of how you propose to pay off the loan eventually. You are better off submitting an initial proposal rather than letting them create it for. This is a great base for the negotiations.
   4. If you think that your financial strain won't last long, ask the lender for forbearance or postponement of payments for a couple of months or until you can recover financially.
   5. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage that reset and you cannot meet the higher monthly payments, ask for a mortgage modification request from your lender. They will request a complete financial history from you detailing your monthly income and expenses. Ideally, you should have some cushion in your income to justify a modification. If they switched your mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage, show them that you can comfortably pay a lower monthly payment through a fixed rate mortgage.
   6. It seems that mortgage modification companies are popping up everywhere. If you feel that you can't talk to your mortgage company or you just don't know what to do or say then use a mortgage modification company.
If you are going to chose from the many mortgage modification companies out there then you must make sure you contact the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and run the names of the mortgage modification company that you are interested in by them to be safe.