Homeowner Alert:  They went from selling you a toxic home and loan and now they want to “rescue” you from foreclosure from those same homes and loans they sold you last year. Should you trust these so-called loan modification and short sale experts that are busting down your door to help you? Hopefully after you read this, you will not answer your door when these crooks come knocking to save you!

Take for example this email I received this morning from a struggling homeowner this morning: Read the rest of this entry »

Attorney General Alert: We at LoanWorkout.org “believe” that your recent unfair and deceptive predatory lending settlements can be parlayed and effectively used against the incredibly unfair and deceitfully deceptive mortgage servicing industry.

A mortgage servicer’s fiduciary duty is “only” to the investor for which they are servicing the pool of mortgages for and not the homeowner. Every loss mitigation technique they perform, such as a loan modification, repayment plan and or short sale needs to be in the “best interests” of the trust and these instructions for servicing a pool of mortgage loans are outlined in what is called a ‘Pooling and Serving Agreement’ or PSA.

A mortgage pooling and servicing agreement describes how pooled loans will be serviced and dictates how proceeds and losses will be distributed to investors. Read the rest of this entry »

Out of all the lenders and mortgage servicers out there, I would have to say that the most positive feedback and best results have come from Citi Mortgage / Citi Financial time and time again.

They really seem like they are reaching out and going beyond the typical lip service I preach about here daily.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Bryan Bolton, Senior VP of Loss Mitigation for Citi several times over the past month and his genuine interest in helping homeowners impressed me and that is hard to do. I whole heartily feel that Citi, Mr. Bolton and their awesome staff are doing what they can to help struggling homeowners. Read the rest of this entry »

The Federal Deposit Corporation (FDIC) has a job to do and this job may be the biggest clean up effort by any government or non-government agency ever in the history of our country and quite possibly the world.

Their job is to clean up the toxic mortgages and assets left by failed banking institutions ceased by the the FDIC. The FDIC’s Division of Resolutions and Receiverships, which handles bank failures, already has a large office in Dallas Texas, but is anticipating many more failures and needs to prepare adequately for the avalanche of bank implosions to come.

There have been 15 bank failures since February 2007 following an uneventful two-year stretch. The last time the agency was hit hard with failures was during the 1990-1991 recession, when 502 banks failed in three years. Read the rest of this entry »

Loan Safe & Moe Bedard in the New York Times By Gretchen Morgenson

DAN A. BAILEY JR. was desperate when he sat down on May 19 to send an e-mail message to his mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corporation, pleading, yet again, for help.

Behind on his payments and fearful of losing his home of 16 years — a 900-square-foot bungalow in Wilmington, N.C. — Mr. Bailey had spent the previous six months unsuccessfully lobbying Countrywide, at the time the nation’s largest home lender and loan servicer. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a lot of myths surrounding lenders and servicers as to what they will and will not do during the loan modification process. 

The confusion and inaccurate data that is propagating the internet and the news is based on ill-informed bloggers or journalists who really have no idea what is going on in the loss mitigation arena. This to me is akin to someone who studies baseball and claims to be an expert, but has never caught a ball or swung a bat in their lives. How can anyone take them seriously? How can these same people be relied on by the media as “experts” when they have never even played the game? Read the rest of this entry »

Get your gloves on and start training for the fight of your life because foreclosure defense is going to be no easy battle. Make no bones about it, you are definitely fighting against one of the toughest and most powerful opponents in the world.

The banks! Read the rest of this entry »

I am proud to announce that 131 families have received a loan modification, and 131 homes have been saved with our “Not for Profit: forum at LoanSafe.org. 131 people who now have mortgage relief, can focus on living instead of worrying about their loans. Read the rest of this entry »

Emails, letters, and scandal, seem to be circling Mr. Angelo Mozilo has he scurries to cover up when the light is exposed on his famously tanned hide. 

The light flips on and BAM! Out goes the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero’s who are paid by Mozilo to fix PR problems, and put muzzles on homeowers who may expose what really is going on with their bad loans and soon to be foreclosed homes.

What turned out to be the most famous hardship letter ever written in the history of foreclosure mania, has turned into the most famous email reply ever written.

The exchange between Dan Bailey and Mr. Mozilo was a classic tale of the little guy going up against a Goliath of a corporation known as Countrywide Home Loans. The email gave us all an inside look at what one of the most powerful CEO’s in the world, thinks of Homeowner Joe, who is strapped to the hilt and reaching out for help to save his home.

Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com wrote:

This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.

Mozilo and the Countrywide camp then released this email in response to the LA Times repeated requests for comment:

Bailey and Mozilo couldn’t be reached for comment. Late in the day, the lender issued this statement: “Countrywide and Mr. Mozilo regret any misunderstanding caused by his inadvertent response to an e-mail by Mr. Bailey. Countrywide is actively working to help borrowers, like Mr. Bailey, keep their homes.”

Shortly thereafter the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero came in and went to work on Mr. Dan Bailey.

The hero instructed Dan not to speak with the media and that they are all bad guys looking to exploit you for their gain. He also told Dan that he would get the best loan of his homeowner life, and that they would expedite him through the loan modification process.

But, Mr. Bailey was told that if he spoke with the media or anyone about what the freeze super hero was speaking of, then all bets are off and he will lose his home. Oh and to top it off, Dan was told he must sign a confidentiality agreement that is legally binding.

Wow, the best loan of his life and all he has to do is keep quiet.

What good ‘ole North Carolina boy would turn an offer down like that? Not Dan, heck, he’s a hard working, blue collar entrepreneur who is a man of principle and definitely a man of his word!

The media was all over the story and trying to get a piece of Dan, and his email prowess.

The problem was that Mr. Bailey was not saying a word. He was told to keep quiet and he was deathly afraid of losing his home. So naturally, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t speak to anyone about the deal that Mozilo and Countrywide offered him because A. He is a man of his word and B. He just wants to save his home.

2 very good reasons to not answer the phone and your emails.

A week went by and I finally received a call back from Dan.

 We spoke about our lives and the crazy email that turned into a media frenzy. He explained to me that he was 100% naive to what was going on and it was all happening so fast. One day he finds my forum and the next he is all over the papers and in the TV. Then to top it off he is getting calls from the office of the president instructing him on what he can and cannot do.

He was confused, and terrified on what he should do. The fear of losing his home and the threat from the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero kept him scared straight and his lips sealed! Talk and lose your home, or keep quiet and keep your home.

Heck, what would any other red blooded American homeowner do? Remain silent, right?!

Well, not so fast……

You see, Dan went on to explain that he wasn’t too happy with what happened to him, and what it has done to his life. What started with just trying to do the right thing and save his home, turned into repeated bashings against his character and his motives.

He was hurt by what people were saying about him. He had spoken to some close friends of his about the fiasco, and then realized that maybe the deal Countrywide gave him was really a bad deal. Maybe he was pressured into signing something he never should have signed.

I then proceeded to ask him of he ever signed a confidentiality agreement and he said,

“No, they never sent one and they explained to him since he was a man of his word, they will not require him to sign it.”

I said, “Oh really? Interesting. Do you mind explaining to me what they offered you Dan? In fact, can you fax it to me?”

He then told me the deal that he signed was set in stone as of that day, and I said, “Oh really? Interesting!”

Yes, it is interesting that Mr. Dan Bailey was given a pretty decent loan modification. But what was VERY interesting was the fact that Dan still can’t afford the loan offered to him by Countrywide.

Yes, he CAN’T afford the terms given to him.

It doesn’t take a seasoned 20 year CEO of the World’s largest lender, to figure out that he can’t make this payment and rate and that he will soon be just another foreclosure statistic. In comparing the loan modification given to him and his monthly income, he is negative with just his mortgage payment.

I guess the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero did not take into affect that a man has to eat, and heat his home to live. I guess they figure Mr. Bailey will just grow his own food, heat his home with lumber he cuts down in the forest, and convert his petrol burning car to vegetable oil, so he can get free gas to and from work from the local hamburger stand. While he’s at it, he can get some left over food to eat because 110% of his income is going to the mortgage and Mozilo????????

So, what does this all mean?

It means that the Countrywide Mozilo Email scandal is not over and Dan is far from living hapily ever after.

He feels that he was literally swindled, and pressured into signing a deal that was made to fail. Mr. Bailey is not happy that his name has been dragged through the mud and that the world’s largest lenders, and one of the world’s highest paid CEO’s, have placed his hard working ass in a worse off position than before.

Is it unfair and deceptive, the way Mozilo and the Countrywide camp has acted? Did they use deceptive techniques to steer him into signing an agreement that was really unfair? Did they place him in another unaffordable loan? Did they violate any other laws in their attempts to hush this homeowner with their homeowner muzzle?

These are all questions that Mr. Bailey and his new lawyer will have to answer for you.

Meanwhile on 6/4/2008 the LoanSafe.org forum was hit by German hackers and spammers that infiltrated our boards with vulgar, hardcore porn and viruses. The peculiar thing about the first attack ever is that the only forums and posts that were attacked were all Countrywide related. The thread where Mr. Bailey found Angelo Mozilo’s email was one of the infected threads.

One has to think if this is just a coincidence or another attempt by the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero trying to damage control and cover up the hideous Countrywide truth.

To be continued……………………………….. 

Media Inquirees to speak with Mr. Dan Bailey, his lawyer, or Moe:

Moe Bedard 951-531-0148 email: moe@loansafe.org

By Moe Bedard 

If you have been looking for mortgage help or assistance with a loan modification, then you have came to the right website for safe and accurate information. This blog and our forum at LoanSafe.org was created for the sole purpose of assisting homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages to find the “real deal” when it comes to understanding what these crazy lenders and servicers are doing to help.

By all means DO NOT TRUST these phony loss mitigation companies that are preying on homeowners everywhere. Many of these fly by night companies are coming out of the wood work and their sole purpose is to scam desperate homeowners.

You will see these scammer websites advertised all over the search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Many make false claims that that they have a 98% success rate or they can obtain $100,000 mortgage loan principle reductions and their results are guaranteed. They take your $3,000 and you never see them again. There is no way in hell, ANYONE can promise that and remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

You are not alone and in fact there are millions in your same position!

The first thing you need to know is that you are not alone. There are literally millions of people suffering as a result of their mortgages and this housing crisis. Yes, SUFFERING! This is no game and I do not take this lightly. You shouldn’t either, but realize that you are not alone and you will get through this. One way or another.

Moe’s most important homeowner tip for mortgage help:

One of the first things that a homeowner should do is identify that the mortgage on their current property is a lawful one. Meaning that there are no Truth in Lending Act or RESPA violations and there wasn’t fraud involved on behalf of the lender or broker that originated your loan. If there is legal issues, then you can use these violations to your advantage and put the lender on the defense.

Red Flags and things to look out for in your mortgage loan. If your lender or mortgage broker violated the law, by all means, you may have found the holy grail to help you get out of your toxic or fraudulent mortgage.

Start by comparing the loan you got with the one you thought you were getting. Are the terms the same? That is, is your Annual Percentage Rate (”APR”) the same as the one you were quoted? Are your total monthly payments the same as you were told they would be? Is there a prepayment penalty, and if so, were you told about this prepayment penalty?

If you have refinanced your primary residence, that is, the home your currently live in, then the first thing you should look at is the “notice of Right to Cancel” which is also called the Three Day Right of Rescission. You usually has three days after signing loan documents to change your mind and cancel the loan.

The borrower must be told of this right in writing.

If the creditor fails to properly provide notice of this right to cancel, the right of rescission may be extended for up to three years.

When the right is extended for three years you can rescind the loan at any time before three years, meaning that the loan is treated as if it never existed. Essentially, you become entitled to all profits made by the creditor as a result of this loan. This means that the creditor must refund all interest paid, all closing fees, all broker fees, and even pay for your attorney fees. As you can imagine, this amount can be quite significant.

The extended right of rescission is a powerful tool to help borrowers who have been victims of predatory lending, and helping our clients exercise this right is often the first step in holding a creditor responsible for illegal behavior.

If you are the victim of predatory lending or mortgage fraud, then please call our sponsor, the Law Offices of Gregory A. Paiva & Associates at 888-432-6643 for a FREE consultation.

Gregory A. Paiva - “We use powerful laws like the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate and Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) to bring lenders to their knees. These laws MUST be followed and failure to do so can result in significant damages to the lender. So, naturally, they will be very amicable to working your loan out to more affordable terms to avoid costly litigation.

Many times the borrower is charged a lot of unexplainable fees and charges for the the lender cannot back up these charges. The Law Offices of Gregory A. Paiva & Assoicates, demand that these fees be fully documented to the penny and we insure that our clients are not being over charged by their lender or servicer.

We do not tolerate abuse and command respect with our thorough knowledge of the law. We are consumer and homeowner advocates that will protect you and your home.”

If it is determined that no laws have been violated on your mortgage, then it’s time to approach your lender for a possible loan workout or loan modification.

The factors they will look at to see if your are eligible for a loan modification are:

1. Nature of Hardship Causing Your Mortgage Problems
2. Ability to pay
3. Amount Owed
4. Equity in the property
5. Future financial situation
6. What is better for them. To foreclose or pursue a loan workout with you and or modify your loan. Meaning which approach will best benefit the lender in the long run.

Mortgage help can take form either via a loan workout or loan modification  and this generally occurs where the parties to a problem loan mutually agree to workout the problem by creating new and better loan terms. The hope is that the new loan will enable to the borrower to meet their obligations.

Make the Plan and Work the Plan:

When applying for loan modification help, make a game plan on how exactly you are going to approach your lender or servicer. You need o plan for the worst and hope for the best. So, that means you are going to make 2 plans. 1 plan is to approach a loan workout plan with your lender and the 2nd plan is a “backup” plan in case your attempts to get a loan modification do not work. The 2nd plan is for your to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Understanding your lenders or servicers employees:

These people are trained in minimizing loss for their company and they get paid to by getting the most amount of money out of you as possible or declare that your case is un workable and foreclose on you. That is how they mitigate loss. If you understand this, then you’ll know that you have to approach them and all conversations very carefully. They are people just like you and they are just doing a job.

Many do not care much about anything but lunch and Friday’s. You have to befriend them and “win” their compassion and open ear.. My advice is to be as nice as you can  to these people who answer the phone (no matter how pissed off you are at your lender). They have a tough job with hundreds of angry homeowners calling every day. Stand out and be the nice, calm and collective homeowner. You’ll be surprised that this simple tip will get you FAR!

The Mortgage HELP Plan:

1. Gather all your financial information and separate it into 3 categories

•  Income - Any and all income. Wages, social security, child support, welfare etc.
•  Assets - All real estate, 401k, IRA, stocks & bonds, autos, boats etc.
•  Expenses - All expenses, mortgage payment, taxes, utilities, vehicles, cell phone, child care, insurance etc.
•  Income & Expense Sheet - Now make a income and expense sheet with all your data. Here is a sheet to help you.

Your lender or servicer will ask you to fill out a financial statement and this is what the lender will use to determine if you are eligible for a loan modification. 

2. Write a hardship letter. Here in an example hardship letter

You’ll need to provide this hardship letter, documenting the reason you are unable to afford the mortgage (or reason you have fallen behind) and the reason that you are a good candidate for loan modification.  This letter will give your lender or servicer a clear picture and shows that you are a responsible borrower who has just suffered a hardship or a rate reset that is causing your problems.

• This letter is going to explain what is causing your mortgage woes and why you are having problems
• Make it short and sweet. 1 page to 2 at max. Remember you are sending this letter to an “employee” who is very busy and does not have time to read 5 page hardship letters.

3. Prepare for your first phone call:

• Here is a list of lender and servicer contact information
• Gather all the contact numbers you’ll need.
• Place your emotions to the side because this is all about “business”
• Place a smile on your face and get ready for the fight of your life!

The trick with any bank and getting a work out done is learning to navigate their phone system so as to increase your chances of getting a live person. Over the years I’ve learned some tricks that help, sometimes you hear options that you know will lead to a person like when it says “to speak to a representative press ___” but sometimes they don’t give you these options.

So, you have to think, what options WOULD get a live person. For example often anything that involves new clients signing up will get a live representative…because they always want new business. You have to be a little savvy though; you can’t just tell the sales guy you called them so you could get a warm body to answer the phone!

Once you get a live person, you want to be working your way up to a decision maker. This is sometimes harder to do for a homeowner than a 3rd party. Often with the homeowner they get stonewalled at the first level, and sadly the first tier in Loss Mitigation is really a glorified collections department. They are paid hourly employee’s who have very little if not zero motivation to go the extra mile and help you get some needed comfort and relief while resolving your problem. Often they just compound the problem by being rude and demanding, telling people things like “just pay your bills”. So it’s essential that you get beyond these people and to a specialist.

4.  Document your efforts

• Make a separate folder for this and attach a “conversation log” or a “call log”
• Document every call, conversations, fax, letter, email on your call log
• This is very important in case you receive abuse and neglect from your lender or servicer. This will be your “evidence” in case you have to file a complaint with the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or if your decide to bring a lawsuit against your predatory lender or servicer.

5.  Do you have complaints against your servicer? Please do not take this abuse and understand your have rights that protect you from predatory servicing.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is a consumer protection statute, first passed in 1974. RESPA covers loans secured with a mortgage placed on a one-to-four family residential property. These include most purchase loans, assumptions, refinances, property improvement loans, and equity lines of credit. HUD’s Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales is responsible for enforcing RESPA.

Loan servicing complaints

Section 6 provides borrowers with important consumer protections relating to the servicing of their loans. Under Section 6 of RESPA, borrowers who have a problem with the servicing of their loan (including escrow account questions), should contact their loan servicer in writing, outlining the nature of their complaint. The servicer must acknowledge the complaint in writing within 20 business days of receipt of the complaint.

Within 60 business days the servicer must resolve the complaint by correcting the account or giving a statement of the reasons for its position. Until the complaint is resolved, borrowers should continue to make the servicer’s required payment.

Borrowers may obtain actual damages, as well as additional damages if there is a pattern of noncompliance.

Closing loan modification thoughts:

The MOST crucial element to this whole process is your Budget and if you have done your due diligence, you’ll be ready . They will ask you for a detailed list of your monthly expenses. If it’s too tight, you may not get approved, if you have too much extra income you are going to have an outrageous payment plan.

Don’t agree to it!

The 2nd MOST important thing you can do is DO NOT SPEND YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS.

Often people stop making their payment because they are falling behind on other bills, or they can’t quite make the whole house payment. Over the years more often than not, the people I met with still have an income coming in each month, they just can’t meet all their obligations, so while the house is falling behind they take advantage of the fact that they aren’t paying the house payment in order to catch up on other debts.  Sock away as much of that money each month as you can. Its crucial, here’s why;

If you don’t pay your mortgage for 3-4 months and your lender decides to negotiate a repayment plan or a loan modification, then they will want what is called “good faith” money for you to come to the table with. Typically this is from 30-75% and sometimes 100% of what you owe in delinquent fees and attorney fees. Often I speak with homeowners who spend all their money and have nothing to work with. If that is the case, then don’t expect them to work with you or you better have a REAAAALLLY good explanation and proof as to why you have no money to bring to the table.You can search for more homeowner tips under the category “Loan Modification” on the right bar of my blog.

Other great mortgage help reads from Moe to help you in your quest.

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/19/should-you-handle-a-loan-modification-on-your-own.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/18/tips-to-get-you-a-loan-modification.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/12/loan-modification-success-story.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/06/a-real-story-on-how-fight-for-a-countrywide-loan-modification.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/01/example-hardship-letter.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/10/04/fha-va-and-rural-mortgage-modification-information.aspx

http://loanworkout.org/2007/07/09/whats-a-loan-workout–repayment-plan.aspx

Contact your lender as soon as possible or have a competent third party handle it for you. There are non-profit HUD certified Housing Counseling Agencies in every town in America and also reputable for profit organization that can help you.

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