Disclaimer: I’m not asking for legal advice in any way, shape, or form . . . just personal advice/experience.
I’ll skip the background, only to say that a traumatic event has caused me to miss a mortgage payment and I’m 40 days behind and having a helluva time working with Countrywide (surprise): lost paperwork, being passed from department to department, etc. I’m trying to get a forebearance or re-fi, but can’t get help. I’m faxing them AGAIN today with paperwork.
Without a work-out and reduction in monthly payment, I won’t be able to keep this house. Do I stop making partial payments and put my money in savings instead in case the worst happens? I’ve called a HUD counselor, but they are pretty much useless.
You’re only one payment behind? I think you’re a long way from foreclosure, but the longer you’re in arrears, the more penalties will accrue. Is there no way for you to catch up that one payment, or is your monthly payment amount just not workable? I understand there are some programs that allow you to tack the amount you’re behind on to the back end of the mortgage, but that doesn’t do you any good if you can’t make your monthly payment.
What kind of equity to you have in your home? Do you think it would sell if you tried to sell it? I think a lot depends on what the real estate market is doing in your area. It might be worth it to beg, borrow or steal enough to get caught up if you could sell it. Even if you don’t walk away with any cash, you wouldn’t have a foreclosure on your record, and you might be able to finance something less expensive.
Call HUD/FHA at 1-800-CALL-FHA and ask for a local housing counseling agency, but NOT the one you’ve already talked to. A good one should actually be able to help.
Assuming your income has changed and you can no longer afford the house, right? You’re not just 40 days late, but 40 days late and unable to sustain the mortgage you have. That right?
Seriously, at one payment behind you are WAY away from foreclosure. Heck, DH and I haven’t paid our mortgage since… mmm… June, I think, and we’re just now up for the foreclosure sale (scheduled for Friday, incidentally, but we’re finalizing our bankruptcy today so it’s not an issue). Plus Countrywide is very motivated right now to help folks out (even if talking on the phone with them may not appear so).
My advice, having dealt with the folks you’re dealing with now (and assuming you want to stay in your house):
The more you stay in contact with them, the more likely they are to be cooperative. That means lots of proactive phone calls, which it seems you’re doing.
What have you gotten IN WRITING from them? At this point you might be dealing with the debt collection department, which is different from the mortgage department, and all written communication should state that. Make sure you’re talking to the right people.
Their debt assistance department leaves a little to be desired, mostly because it’s hard as hell to get a hold of the “right” person and (as you’ve discovered) their paper trail looks more like a hedge maze. You should be assigned a case manager, the person you’re sending all the information to. Typically if you have to call you’ll wind up with one of the other agents; if that happens, make sure that you request they send an email to your case manager stating that you called and what transpired during the call- that should happen while you’re on the phone with them.
Follow their WRITTEN directions to the letter! We went through our application for a forbearance twice because our case manager verbally told us we could fax the information, but the packet stated we had to overnight mail it. grumble
When we went through the forbearance, we had to show that our financial circumstances would change significantly enough in the ensuing period that we would be able to cover our mortage payment plus the additional payments that had accrued (they were going to roll the total amount over into the mortgage, so the difference would have been nominal). If you can’t show that, they will probably reject your request. Don’t despair, though! There are still several other options available to you, especially if (as I said earlier) you’re only a month behind.
Breathe! Really, you’re not in too bad of a shape. If you’re motivated to keep the house, then by all means keep making payments! Most importantly, know that you’re definitely not alone- as DH and I have been repeating to the mortgage (and now bankruptcy folks), we have six college degrees between the two of us, and certainly never expected to be in the situation we’re in now.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU Bobkitty, for the advice. I’ve printed it out and will start to follow it. I’ve experienced exactly what you’ve gone through with Countrywide and am now armed with a bit more ammunition to tackle this problem.
Should I make partial-payments or hold onto the money until I have a full payment? I’m worried that CW will apply it to the principal instead of the monthly obligation, which has happened before.
I’m so, so sorry for your troubles. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
As others have said, you may be a long way from actual foreclosure. And, N.B. - things may have changed since I was practicing law (and I am not now practicing and can’t give legal advice). But, when I was involved in this sort of thing, filing bankruptcy would stop a foreclosure instantly, the people would get to keep their house (assuming it’s a primary residence and such), and the Trustee would figure out how much the bank would get paid out of the assets the people actually had available.
It may be something you want to avoid if possible, but if the options become bankruptcy or getting kicked out of your house, it might be worth considering.
I’m sorry you’re going through this. My experience of dealing with renegotiating a mortgage is that the phone monkeys at the bank have little incentive to help you make a new deal, and you have to apply constant, albeit pleasant, pressure to get anything done. Good luck.
You are most welcome; this is a trying time for lots of people, and if we all pooled our information it might make it a bit easier in the long run.
I would ask them directly what they’d prefer as far as payment; you’re right about them possible applying it where it doesn’t need to be going right now, so the best thing would be to get the information directly from the horse’s mouth. In our case, we held off on making any payments during the forbearance process, as they were willing to roll the whole amount over into the mortgage.
Thank you for the empathy; there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel, and for once it’s not the 9:05 from Birmingham. I’m waiting right now on a call from our appraiser, who has the last piece of documentation we need to file bankruptcy. We’re supposed to meet this morning, at which point I hie myself to our lawyer and hand everything over, and she files with the court which (as UC pointed out) will stop the foreclosure auction scheduled for Friday. My husband has been approved for disability and his first check has finally arrived, so although things are going to be really, really, really tight for the next few years, we get to keep the house that we built. I will say that when they were apprised of the situation (when I first started the forbearance process, DH was in the hospital on a vent), Countrywide was VERY sympathetic and kind- they just don’t do a very good job of communication, and you have to be diligent about keeping records.
Mortgage companies (my personal experience) don’t get serious about foreclosure proceeedings until you’re 3 months behind, and even then, they’ll work with you. They want you in your house and making payments, not kicking you to the curb and selling the property at a sheriff’s auction.
I was laid off in '03, and couldn’t make regular payments for a year. They got roughly a third of those scheduled, at the regular payment amount. At the same time, they knew we were trying to sell the house because I found a job out-of-state, and wanted everyone happy. They bent over backwards to work with us, and we closed the sale a few hours before actual foreclosure proceedings started. The sale astisfied the first and second mortgages, but my agent ate about $1k in fees for a few months until I could satisfy him, too.
I’m waiting right now on a call from our appraiser, who has the last piece of documentation we need to file bankruptcy. We’re supposed to meet this morning, at which point I hie myself to our lawyer and hand everything over, and she files with the court which (as UC pointed out) will stop the foreclosure auction scheduled for Friday. My husband has been approved for disability and his first check has finally arrived, so although things are going to be really, really, really tight for the next few years, we get to keep the house that we built. I will say that when they were apprised of the situation (when I first started the forbearance process, DH was in the hospital on a vent), Countrywide was VERY sympathetic and kind- they just don’t do a very good job of communication, and you have to be diligent about keeping records.