I was told that once we make the first new payment, they will finalize the program for us and clear up our credit. They said to expect the credit to be cleared up within 30 days of the first payment. I’ll continue to keep people posted.

Start to finish – we started the process in 03/09 our new loan effective date 12/09. If you’re just starting the process, hang on for the ride – it’s a long one.

Cannot tell you for certain but the PMI rep I have has said that the 31% of your total monthly gross income should include all taxes, insurance(s)and your monthly mortgage….yet, when I got approved, the amount of 31% of my gross monthly income was about $220.00 less than my trial payment is and it also includes my PMI insurance and a mortgage accidental death insurance that I had prior to applying for the HAMP. Therefore, I don’t think that the PMI is calculated in the 31% gross monthly income and until you meet or pay down ? 20 % of your mortgage…only then can you drop the PMI insurance. I would ask your PMI rep BEFORE YOU FINALIZE YOUR HAMP, if the mortgage were to reflect a “debt forgiveness” on your new mortgage, ( to meet 31% of your total monthly gross income but, this seems to be happening more so with those who cannot “modify” but have to refinance), ? wouldn’t your PMI $ also be reduced to reflect your new mortgage amount?
I don’t know if this will help you but I think it is safe to assume that your PMI will be added on top of the 31% along with any extra’s (accidental death mortgage insurance, disability insurance, etc. that you may have).
Keep me posted and good luck! Darla

I have read all you say about PMI. We have been in the HAMP Trial payment period since 10/1. We will be making our 3rd trial payment at the end of the month. My question is we pay pre-trial $1,693 a month….$310 goes straight to PMI and that is what was killing us. I have read that PMI is NOT calculated in the 31% of gross income. Is this true?

would me scraping up 3K to hire his legal team help any? Or is it just another scam for the lawyers to make money?

He says they can “negotiate” with your bank to reduce your payments, and stop payments for 5-6 months.

Sounds like a bunch of crap to me but I only have one chance at this loan mod so anyone’s opinion is welcome!

Now Im thinking that maybe this is b/c WAMU was bought by Chase, so b/c their unorganized reorganization as a company, I am the one who has to spend all the extra time copying, mailing, faxing stuff 5 times.

That, I can handle. What I am irritated with is that finally they tell me they have all my paperwork…….and now they get another 60 days to give me an answer. Their 60 days to tell me is up on 11/23/09.

In the mean time, my husband got laid off, which was our primary source of income. So I faxed that information off.

All our payments have been on time. I dont want to loose the home we worked so many years to build.

Someone in an earlier post mentioned savings being an issue….now we dont have much, and the documents I have found online for loan servicers to go by says you can have 3x your monthly debt payments in the bank. 401k is protected under this program as far as I have investigated.

Now we are in the position that if they dont reduce our payments, and quick to 31% of our new gross income, we are going to be eventually out of our home.

Does anyone have any advice on short sells?

My neighbor is in a short sell situation but his house hasnt sold in 6 months…….seems to me if their are no buyers in our home price range, why should I even consider a short sell? Seems almost better to foreclose, but I am not familiar with foreclosures at all. Neither is fabulous for your credit.

I call every week and get the same answer nearly every week “you should call in a week or two” Ive been told this since mid August. Do they document every call you make, even if you dont specifically request them to document your call? Does this really help??

Im as frustrated as everyone else. I totally take responsibility that maybe we bought a house a little out of our price range, but what about the lenders responsibility to do legitimate loans that they can ensure that people pay back? Still, no one it seems, is making the banks take responsibility.

Is it true that if you have any late payments, it disqualifies you from the home affordable program?

Thanks

Took me hours to get all the documents in just to find out at the end.. They Lied.. So, the mortage company gets their application fee, denies me for miss informing me, and I will have to reapply which means they get another application fee.

How do I control how the banks process the payments earlier??????? I was told I should have paid-by-phone, which costs $12.50 per transaction fee and the money HAS TO BE PROCESSED ON THE DAY ITS DUE!! They never told me this….

After hours of deliberations with the account people at GMAC, I now have to reapply.

We have made 4 trial period payments. Today, I received a phone call from Wells Fargo saying that we are NOT going to qualify for the HAMP program because we have too much savings. Seriously? My savings hasn’t changed since I was allowed to enter the trial period. In fact, my savings has gone down. The problem is that they never asked about any savings in the beginning of the program. So, now what? He tells me to give them time. They’re going to look for an inhouse program and see if any of them would fit. So, thank you OBAMA for allowing me to get this far behind on my house payment because your program is not clearly set up. I have NEVER missed a house payment and I’ve NEVER paid it late. The trial period has caused me to fall behind due to the reduced amount that I will now have to pay back after 4-5 payments at a reduced rate of over $1,000/mth. I will have to use all of the savings that disqualified me to pay this back, sell my house (at a loss), and buy another house. Thanks for nothing!!!

I’m totally ticked off. So, I applied for HAMP in 03/09. It is now 11/09. I have made 4 trial period payments. Today, I get a call because they are JUST NOW reviewing my financial information. I was told over the phone that we will NOT qualify for the HAMP program because of our savings. They never once asked for savings balances in the beginning when they qualified us for the trial period. NOW, I’m being told that we will NOT qualify for the HAMP program. What has this done for me? Well, I’ve NEVER been late for a house payment. They have succeeded in calling all of my trial period payment late because you’re not allowed to make your normal payment. They have put me behind on payments because I’m going to somehow have to pay this money back. They’ve delayed me getting my house on the market (while the market gets worse) because they made me believe that we qualified for the program. AND I will have to use ALL of the savings I have to get out of my house and into another one. How does this help me?? So, then I will no longer have the savings that kept me from getting in the HAMP program. So, beware if you are responsible and have savings – you’re screwed!! Shame on you for being responsible. Seriously, who does this program help? Anyone? I don’t know how anyone would fit the criteria. The program has hurt us – I am in a lot of trouble and my credit is going to be jacked! I really wish that I hadn’t even attempted the program. His final words were… Give them some time, they MIGHT have an inhouse program that can help. REALLY?

My last trial period payment was due 10/1. I made my first “transitional” payment that was due by 11/1. I was told to continue making the “transitional” payments until I receive the final modification papers. They told me that it is taking on average 60 days from the last trial period payment. So, they should have an answer to me by the end of November. However, the dates change every time I talk to them. I received a call from someone in the Loss Mitigation department on 10/26 congratulating me on qualifying for the modification. He told me to expect someone to contact me within a week. When I called Wells Fargo today, they have no record of anyone calling me on 10/26 and said that my modification is still not finalized. Everyone in the Loss Mitigation department says something different when you call. They have no clue what’s going on. They have automated calls going out for bogus reasons because they don’t know how to update the information correctly in their systems. So, I’ve received numerous calls asking me if I’ve returned and signed my original papers. I returned all of the papers in JULY. It took until a couple of weeks ago to get ahold of someone in the Loss Mitigation department that knew the correct field to update with the correct information. I’m guessing that my mysterious call was related to her updating the field that said my final paperwork was sent in and accepted. However, it confused the hell out of me since I am waiting to hear if I qualified for the program or not. I seriously thought this was my confirmation. Nope! Not yet. Just another unorganized part of the program. This program is taking WAY too long. I’m surprised many can make it through the program without losing their home or selling it. We started the program 3/09 and still don’t know if we will qualify in the end. It shouldn’t take this long.

I was informed by a “servicing representative” for our mortgage company that assists homeowners with completing and submitting their paperwork back to the lender…”beginning in 2010, the Administration is requiring the banks to “over haul” the way the banks are processing the HAMP and MHAP programs so that it will be easier for homeowners to apply and qualify for the programs. I do not know if this is true, but she seemed confident that this is going to happen…
On another note… If you have been “denied” or are having difficulty with your lender and your mortgage is backed by HUD, contact your local HUD agency and ask to speak with a counselor. Some banks, Chase in particular, is making it extremely difficult for homeowners to qualify and are not “playing by the rules” as they should be. Apparently, the HUD counselor can and will also work on the behalf of the homeowner in getting the lenders to work with the homeowner.
Also, apparently those that do not qualify for “modification” but meet the criteria for another program, “Making Home Affordable Refinancing” program (MHARP), those loans will be adjusted to the current market value and the loan will be restructured accordingly. This seems to what homeowners with ARMS and/or are self employed are mostly likely going to benefit from.
Again, if your loan has PMI (mortgage insurance), and they have a “LOSS MITIGATION DEPARTMENT”, get them involved ASAP! I did and my application for the HAMP was processed and I am now approved for the “Trial Payment Plan” for the next 3 months. With the PMI loss mitigation representative working with me.., it took about 30 days for my loan to get processed! If it is a HUD loan, get a HUD counselor involved ASAP! The old saying, “it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease” seems to apply.
Just passing along more info as I get it. Hope that this will help. Darla