Mortgage-Mod-Monster

Is Citi (or your mortgage lender) Taking Advantage?

I have been waiting for a source like this for several months. By now, almost everyone (certainly every distressed homeowner) is aware of the possibility of getting their distressed mortgage modified. The huge mystery to me is that a homeowner would trust their mortgage company to give them optimum terms. Why would anyone really think the mortgage lender is on their side? If the distressed homeowner tries to negotiate their own mortgage modification, they have a fool for a client. The national attorneys are the entities getting optimum terms for their clients. If the distressed homeowner whines about having to pay for their loan modification negotiation, they are completely missing the point. Who is going to get the best terms? When the modification negotiation fees typically pay for themselves in four to six months (on new 30 year or better term) what math isn’t getting through here? National attorneys typically accomplish mortgage modification negotiations in two months, not seven.

Submitted by WSN_Staff on Tue, 10/06/2009 – 14:16

One newspaper pretty squarely pointed a finger this weekend at CitiFinancial of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), we’ll let you choose which finger. It seems that CitiFinancial’s mortgage offices may have been working on some interesting dealings with one couple in Iredell County. Reportedly the Citi staff went as far as showing up in Ronnie Fruia’s hospital room while he was recovering from a stroke to get him to sign papers for a mortgage modification.

Chris Adams of McClatchy Newspapers (Charlotte Observer) reports that the Ronnie and Donna Fruia had been trying to get a mortgage modification from CitiFinancial. The company, however, was pushing them to accept a modification that wouldn’t have cut their interest rate, they said. The Iredell County couple had been trying to get a mortgage modification from CitiFinancial. The company, however, was pushing them to accept a modification that wouldn’t have cut their interest rate, they said.

It was only after the hospital room drama and involvement by state regulators that CitiFinancial cut the mortgage’s interest rate from 11.5% to 5% percent, which brought their monthly payment down by $383 to $602 from $985. The mortgage modification process took process nearly 7 months.

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