WITH ALL THE LOAN MODIFICATION SCAMS OUT THERE, IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A REPUTABLE, HONEST LOAN MODIFICATION COMPANY?

We have all heard the news lately…”loan modification scam takes advantage of another homeowner”, or “call the lender yourself and don’t pay a third party to help you with your modification”.  The news loves a bad story and makes one wonder if there are any good, honest loan modification companies out there?

THE POLITICALLY CORRECT THING TO SAY

Now, at www.adjustMYLOAN.com we absolutely think it is a good idea to be proactive when you are a homeowner facing a financial hardship and you believe you cannot make your upcoming mortgage payments.  It seems like the natural thing to do (and the politically correct thing to say) and call your lender right away when you are experiencing problems paying your mortgage.  The problem is that many homeowners who are not educated in the real estate / mortgage / loss mitigation world do not know what division to call, what to say, and most importantly, what financial information to disclose during those phone calls.  What happens is many homeowners fall into three categories when they try and do a home loan modification themselves…”the disconnect”, the “sorry you don’t qualify”, or the worst one of them all the “here’s your crappy modification agreement”.  

The “disconnect”  is where you call and get transferred over and over, wait on hold forever, and eventually get disconnected.  Do this a few times and the frustration is overwhelming.  People already have a fear of confrontation and hate waiting on hold forever so many times this is enough to get them to quit.

The “sorry you don’t qualify”is when an uneducated homeowner calls their lender out of desperation and doesn’t understand that the lender is going to ask them for their financial information…sometimes right then and there over the phone.  The poor homeowner discloses financials on-the-fly and ends up de-qualifying themselves because they don’t know what loan-to-value / debt-to-income ratio’s the banks are looking for.  Again..the frustration is overwhelming because no matter if they qualify or not the fact remains they can’t afford their current payment.  The loss mitigation departments at most major lenders are extremely slow and it takes the average consumer a couple of months to get any answers and by this time it might be too late!  Lastly, the call centers at these banks are sometimes overseas and we all know how frustrating it can be when you get someone that barely speaks English telling you (without any feeling of empathy) that there is nothing they can do for you!

The “here’s your crappy modification agreement” is so common and it makes us nauseous.  Many homeowners don’t have the time to educate themselves on the in’s and out’s of loss mitigation before attempting to modify their own home loan.  They don’t understand the processes, how to get to the decision makers, or the fact that you can counter-offer and get better terms.  Most wear out after talking to a un-empathetic loss mitigation negotiator at the bank and end up accepting whatever terms they can just to be done with it.  Remember, the banks want to mitigate their loss…that’s why its called loss mitigation!  They definitely don’t have your best interest in mind otherwise they would make it super easy to complete this process.  If you don’t have a real estate / mortgage background, or you don’t have the time going back and forth with your lender(s) for months and months, contract the work out to a trained expert in loan modification negotiating.

THIS ONE IS OUR FAVORITE

How about this one…“call a HUD certified counselor and get a FREE modification”.  While this advice sounds good, we all can agree that nothing good is cheap and seldom anything cheap is good!  Free help from a counselor is just that…FREE help (not them actually doing it for you).  Anyone can gather the necessary paperwork and submit it to the lender…what a homeowner needs is an aggressive person (or team of people) to fight for the best loan terms possible and not just a paperwork submission helper.  Every “financial expert” on the news is telling homeowners to avoid paying up-front fee’s to modification companies and go to a HUD certified counselor for free help.  These same people are so far removed from any financial struggles that they don’t feel the severity of the situation.  It’s easy to give advice when you are not the one struggling financially, or fighting with your spouse everyday over finances.  HUD counselors do not have the time to spend 40-50-60 hours fighting to get you better mortgage terms.  In most cases they help you gather the necessary documents and submit them to the lender.  Then whatever modification (if any) the lender gives after months and months of waiting is what you will have to accept.  NOT AT ADJUSTMYLOAN.COM.  We spend all the time necessary to aggressively fight to get you the best loan terms available.

NOTE: HUD Counselors do help you submit the correct financials so in that instance they are a good resource if you do insist on doing this yourself just don’t expect them to do the actual negotiations for you!

THE LOAN MODIFICATION MERRY-GO-ROUND

There was a news story about a congresswoman who tried and negotiate her own loan modification only to get the run-a-round and give up frustrated.  CLICK HERE to watch the video.  Yes, it is possible to get your own modification, but statistics prove that almost 40% of homeowners who achieve their own loan modification re-default within 6 months because the lender(s) put them into a half ass modification that was in the banks best interest…not the homeowners.  DON’T BE A STATISTIC.  There are loan modification companies out there who actually do the work they are promising to do and all it takes is some research to find the right one.

OUR SUGGESTIONS TO FINDING THE RIGHT LOAN MOD COMPANY

1. MAKE SURE THE PERSON YOU ARE DEALING WITH HAS A PHYSICAL BUSINESS ADDRESS AND BUSINESS PHONE NUMBER.
2. GET COPIES OF RECENTLY NEGOTIATED LOAN MODIFICATION AGREEMENTS TO PROVE THEY CAN DO THE JOB
3. DO NOT PAY A LARGE UPFRONT FEE…A SMALL FEE IS OKAY BUT IT SHOULD COME WITH A MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE IF THE MOD IS NOT SUCCESSFUL
4. MAKE SURE THE COMPANY YOU ARE USING HAS AN ONLINE TRACKING SYSTEM SO YOU CAN SEE THE PROGRESS OF YOUR LOAN MODIFICATION AT ALL TIMES
5. MAKE SURE YOU MEET THE COMPANY AT THEIR OFFICE AND SEE THAT THEY ARE CONDUCTING BUSINESS (GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY)
6. GET REFERRALS AND TESTIMONIALS TO VERIFY COMPANIES HISTORY

7. GET COPIES OF ALL PAPERWORK THAT OUTLINES THE BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

WHAT MAKES ADJUSTMYLOAN.COM DIFFERENT

First and most importantly, we are a full-service (brick and mortar) loan modification company that has been negotiating loan modifications and short sales in Phoenix, Arizona for over 5 years.  Our parent company is a member of the Better Business Bureau with zero complaints and can show you completed loan modification agreements between us and almost ever major lender.  We are fully transparent and do not hide behind a corporate slogan…we invite you to get to know us in person or through our many videos on our website www.AdjustMyLoan.com.  Our website, back-office tracking system, and negotiating processes are unique to us and designed to keep you educated and informed of your loan modifications progress from start to finish.  NO OTHER LOAN MODIFICATION COMPANY HAS THE EXPERIENCE, INTEGRITY, AND PROCESSES WE HAVE HERE AT ADJUST MY LOAN.  We invite you to get to know us and our professional Loan Modification staff.  Lastly, we DO NOT CHARGE any expensive upfront fees for our loan mod service and always offer free consultations to see if you qualify!