It’s Easy To Determine If You Qualify For A Loan Modification

Just last year we’d spend way too much time with our clients trying to determine whether or not they qualified for a mortgage modification. In 2010 it takes me just a few minutes and is about 100% accurate. That’s because the banks, in their rush to streamline, have become standardized and predictable.

Standardized – The Making Homes Affordable Program (MHA) Guidelines have become the standards. Other programs are modeled after the MHA. None of the other programs are as rich and all are harder to get. But the guidelines have become universal.

I say predictable because the sheer numbers of applications has forced the banks to routinize everything – including erroneous rejections – to a point where it is pretty obvious to us veteran loan mod freaks.

Homeowners will get a mod if they, 1) have a typical hardship, 2) the loan qualifies (non-jumbo, done before Jan. 1, 2009), have correct ratios, 3) live in the home, and are in default. That’s not to say that landlords are SOL…they just have less likelihood of approval and must have lower expectations.

Don’t mistake qualifying with getting approved! Thousands of qualified applicants get rejected every day! Being qualified is just the beginning of the journey. You have to know how to navigate this bureaucratic, convoluted, administriviated maze (don’t bother to right-click – I made up that word!). You can’t do that with advice crafted for the masses – advice you get from the banks themselves or from the government. You need to get advice from a source that has actually succeeded in getting throught he maze – time and again.

You should have the advantage of an insider, a street-smart advisor who has been at the game table for a long time. Someone who is unabashadly on your side – not a government entity and certainly not a bank employee or site. If you follow the advice of the government or bank sponsored entities you can only expect to get info tailored for the masses. That’s like going into a street-fight with training in only boxing. You are totally unprepared when the opponant kicks you in the ear! You’ll have to pay for such advice. But, you get what you pay for.

Rockwood is an author and outspoken homeowner advocate. Want more insider tips on Mortgage Modification? Visit Rockwood’s site about DIY Loan Modification at Home Loan Modification