WHAT IS AN ARIZONA LOAN MODIFICATION?

Arizona Loan Modification Defined: An Arizona Loan Modification in its simplest form is the restructuring of your current loan terms in order to lower your monthly payment, keep you out of foreclosure and in your home.  A lender would choose to modify your loan if the cost of doing so would be less than the cost of default and foreclosure.

An Interest Rate Modification is where your lender(s) agree to lower the interest rate temporarily or permanently.  Common reductions go as low as 2%-3% for a temporary interest rate drop, and as low as 4%-5.5% for a permanent rate drop.  Our negotiations will consist of getting the bank to agree to the lowest rate for the longest period of time. Some banks are limited in their ability to offer homeowners the lowest rates based on their investors' criteria, but our relationships and experience will quickly get the best interest rate drop available.

A Term Modification is the extension of the repayment period for your loan. For instance, a borrower 5 years into a 30 year loan can request a Term Modification resulting in re-writing the note to a NEW 30 or 40 year term. This type of modification is almost always offered permanently. It can be used in addition to Interest Rate Modifications to maximize the monthly savings for the borrower. 

A Principal Balance Reduction is where your lender(s) reduce the principal amount owed wiping out a portion or all of your negative equity you may have due to the fact that home values (especially in certain geographic regions) have plummeted. This is the lender's least favorite of the modifications currently in practice.  It is reserved almost exclusively for second trust deeds, and those found with major Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Truth In Lending Act (TILA), or Home Ownership Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) violations.  They are extremely difficult to negotiate; however, our in-house attorney along with our professional Loan Modification Negotiators have had much success in completing aggressive loan modifications with Principal Balance Reductions.

Overall, loan modifications usually consist of a unique combination of the options mentioned above.  REMEMBER, YOUR LENDER DOES NOT WANT TO OWN YOUR HOME!  They want to keep you as a performing asset on their books and will search for the cheapest way to keep you from defaulting and going into foreclosure.  Many government agencies, such as the FDIC, are heavily pushing for mandatory loan modification programs, and we believe NOW IS THE TIME to get aggressive and request a loan modification from your lender(s)!  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE!

WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS TO GET A LOAN MODIFICATION?

Typically, a homeowner must have most of the following qualifications in order to be a good candidate for an Arizona Loan Modification:

• You Need To Have A Financial Hardship (This can be a divorce, loss of job, interest rate adjusted out of control, medical, death in family etc.)
• You Need To Have Provable Monthly Income (You bank(s) will only modify a loan if they are positive you can afford the new modified monthly payment)
• You Need To Have A "Funky" Loan With A High Interest Rate (We mean an adjustable rate mortgage, a negative amortization mortgage, an interest only mortgage, a mortgage with a large balloon payment etc… and an interest rate of 7% or higher)

WHY IS A FORENSIC LOAN AUDIT IMPORTANT?

A FORENSIC LOAN AUDIT is considered by many to be the “secret” to obtaining a loan modification with your lender(s).  Sometimes called a Forensic Loan Document Review or Mortgage Audit, the main purpose is to determine if there are violations of federal law!  Many loans originated in the last few years have major RESPA (Real Estate Settlement & Procedures Act) and TILA (Truth In Lending) violations.  The only way to find these violations is to conduct a Forensic Loan Audit by a qualified person…in most instances a trained Attorney!  If found, most lenders choose to renegotiate the terms of the loan to something more affordable to avoid litigation!  The whole goal here is to uncover any predatory loan practices and push for a favorable loan modification.  If you are researching different companies to conduct your loan mod, please take into consideration whether or not they are performing a detailed loan audit for you!  Don’t be fooled by loan/mortgage companies that jumped into the loss mitigation business yesterday…hire a company that has real experience negotiating Arizona Loan Modifications and can fight for you.

WHAT IS FORECLOSURECOUNSELING.COM’S PROCESS...HOW DOES YOUR PROGRAM WORK?

First, you need to contact us to see if you qualify for one of our Arizona Loan Modification Programs.  The pre-qualification process takes about 10 minutes and you will need your loan information handy so our loan modification specialists can review your situation.  Once we pre-qualify you, we explain your options in detail.  We make sure you are aware of the benefits and consequences of a loan modification, putting you in control of your financial future!  If you choose to move forward, we will then take a detailed application to begin the Arizona Loan Modification Process.  This should take about 20-25 minutes and you would need to gather all your loan documents, mortgage statements, and your monthly income and expenses.  Our goal here is to begin building the Loan Modification Proposal based off of your specific circumstances. Once we receive all your necessary loan modification documents, we can begin building your loan mod proposal. You will  need the following for us to process your loan modification:

• Bank Correspondence / Foreclosure Notices
• Hardship Letter Explaining Your Circumstances And Why You Must Modify Your Loan (must be signed by borrower)
• 2 Most Recent Mortgage Statements For Each Loan
• 2 Months Bank Statements For All Borrowers (12 Months If Self Employed)
• 2 Months Pay-Stubs For All Borrowers
• 2 Years Tax Returns Including W2’s, 1099’s And All Schedules For All Borrowers
• Insurance Information (agent name, company, address, phone, email and policy number)
• Any Documents To Verify Hardship (Death Certificate, Medical Bills, Divorce Paperwork ETC)
• Your Loan Paperwork (HUD-1 Settlement Statement, Good Faith Estimate, Truth In Lending Disclosures, Promissory Note, Deed Of Trust etc.)

THEN WE DO A FORENSIC LOAN AUDIT TO UNCOVER ANY PREDATORY LENDING VIOLATIONS!

Typical violations we find in the loan files: 

1. Broker disclosures were never made
2. Risk factors for credit were not disclosed
3. Your FICO scores  were not properly disclosed
4. RESPA booklet was not received on time (or not at all)
5. Some documents were not signed or notarized properly
6. There is no ARM disclosure or the ARM disclosure is not accurate
7. There is no Final Hud-1 in the file or the Final Hud is not accurate
8. Notice of Right to Cancel (two copies) were not given to each borrower
9. Truth in Lending Notice of Right to Cancel is not filled out properly by the lender  
10. A good faith estimate (GFE) was not given within three days of taking the loan application
11. No payment schedule is included in the loan documents or the payment schedule is not accurate
12. Truth in Lending info was not received (or mailed) within three days of taking your loan application
13. There is no copy of the promissory note (it is unclear who owns your loan...or who is entitled to enforce it)  
14. Three Day rescission period was not provided for clients who sign and loan funds on same day (non-purchase money loans)   
15. Truth in Lending Statement does not accurately disclose the finance charges, APR, amount financed, or total of payments 

At the same time we are uncovering any predatory lending violations, we are submitting your initial proposal to your lender(s).  We use any Forensic Loan Audit findings as our negotiation trump card to get you the best loan modification terms possible!  We aggressively negotiate your loan mod with all of your lenders which could take up to 90+ days.  Once a modification is reached, we facilitate the paperwork needed to complete your new low monthly payment and walk you through all documents your lender(s) will need you to sign. 

WHY CHOOSE FORECLOSURECOUNSELING.COM TO NEGOTIATE YOUR LOAN MODIFICATION?

We have always thought it was goofy to make a list of all the things we are going to do in order to earn your business. We have a high success rate, we work hard, we have a knowledgeable staff of professionals, we conduct business with honor and integrity etc… BUT TO US, THESE THINGS ARE NOT BONUSES…THEY ARE EXPECTED ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD COMPANY! Instead, let’s focus on the things that make us different from our competition! We are a member of the Better Business Bureau (in good standing) because we believe that there needs to be accountability to a company especially in the industry we are in because there is such a high rate of foreclosure scams that take advantage of homeowners in bad situations. WE CHARGE NO UPFRONT FEE’S FOR OUR LOAN MODIFICATION SERVICE.  We have an online tracking system that you can log into any time and see the status of your Loan Modification Arizona so you are never unaware of the progress we are making on your file. We also email you these update regularly. We always put everything we say or do in writing and we expect you to hold our feet to the fire if we ever do anything other than what we have agreed on! Lastly, we are a brick and mortar company located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona in a multi-million dollar building that we own…we have been around for a long time and have no plans on going anywhere! We invite you to come visit our facility any time and see how many Arizona Loan Modifications we are completing on a monthly basis.