The REST Report would have mitigated this mortgage modification disaster
An article today in The Street illustrates several current trends in the trials and tribulations of getting a mortgage modification. The family profiled here has been pursuing a mortgage modification for 18 months or so, with no success. This article illustrates without stating the main conclusion any other distressed mortgage owner needs to undertand. For the foreseeable future, you need to pursue your own mortgage modification without any professional assistance. No professional mortgage modification firm, attorney or not, will, nor should they, engage in assisting any distressed homeowner with a mortgage modification.
Mortgage Modification Misinformation in my local Newspaper
My local newspaper published an article today about the mortgage modification mess. It seems the spectre of mortgage modification scams is here in Mesa County, Colorado also. The publication today is one more indication of our community’s history of being a six to nine month lagging economoc indicator. The author makes the same mistake that every other reporter makes in reporting on this mess: taking the word of ineffectual HUD counselors and realtors that aren’t fully informed.
When applying for a Mortgage Modification, you need the REST Report
Once again, this week I read yet another story on the internet about another family caught in the mortgage modification morass. It is a tired, old story on the internet, but weekly, somewhere, a local newspaper drags out another distressed mortgage owner caught in distressed mortgage never never land.
Federal Reserve and Federal Treasury don’t care about your Distressed Mortgage
Mandelman’s blog post today concerns the headline from last April that the Federal Reserve Bank made $47.4 billion by helping the distressed mortgage market in the country. Great for them, huh? Most of the article goes past me. I don’t know enough about macro-economics to digest the whole article. Mandelman is a trusted source on [...]
Vetting the REST Report
The subject of Net Present Value, or NPV has been a hidden aspect of mortgage modifications for a few years now. The Net Present Value is a required calculation in the Home Affordable Mortgage Plan, or HAMP. It is a proprietary calculation to the banks, however. A lender will not reveal that calculation.
In house mortgage modifications versus HAMP
It is not well known that every lender has an in-house mortgage modification option. It’s even less well known that many of these plans are more beneficial to the distressed mortgage owner than the publicized, and inefficient Home Affordable Mortgage Plan, or HAMP, from the federal government. The homeowner needs to enter the mortgage modification negotiation well informed as to the options of their mortgage modification application. Without the REST Report (that I provide), the bank will offer a mortgage modification that THEY think you can afford; not necessarily what is beneficial or affordable to the distressed homeowner.
A Third Chance to make the Nations Banks Ours
President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act today. It seems to be better known simply as the Financial Reform Bill, and HR 4173 seems a key also. We missed the first two chances. Insist on Elizabeth Warren to have a snowball’s chance this time.
Better Mortgage Modifications than HAMP
Before the current mortgage crisis, few homeowners had even heard of a mortgage modification. You’d have to be a real estate heavyweight, real real Donald Trump, to know the process existed. Even today, many people believe the Home Affordable Mortgage Plan, or HAMP, is synonymous with mortgage modification. A distressed mortgage owner needs to know that every lender has their own mortgage modification plan, and has since the institution opened for business.
The Federal Trade Commission wants no more Mortgage Modifications
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is still rattling the threat of imposing restrictions on how and when fees for mortgage modifications can be collected. Basically, the mortgage modification will have to be complete and permanent before any fees can be collected. That will certainly eliminate any legal assistance available to a distressed mortgage owner.
FTC forbidding up front mortgage modification fees will ensure the end of beneficial and affordable mortgage modifications
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is nearing the end of their hearings on proposing regulations on how prfessional mortgage modification firms get paid for their service. Mandelman and I both published articles about the misguided direction of the FTC at the start of these hearings. Now, Mandelman writes an even more in-depth criticism of these hearings.
