A Foreclosure Attorney Can Yield A Better Loan Modification

There are many resources available online to assist homeowners with the process on how to attain a home loan modification on their own. As a matter of fact, we have given guidance to prospective clients who decided that they wanted to pursue a modification on their own before hiring an attorney. In many situations, it is possible to get the bank to process your loan modification, but unfortunately, the number of times that banks don’t do their part in processing home loan modifications effectively is still too high.

One of our recent clients came to Graham Legal, P.A., seeking assistance because the bank did not provide him with the loan finalization documents after months of him making the trial payments. The process for obtaining a loan modification begins with applying through the mortgage lender. Many homeowners don’t get past this point because the bank takes too long to review the financial documents, and by the time they do, the documents are usually outdated. Then the bank requests new documents, thus, restarting the process.

After the bank has reviewed the financial documents and decided that the homeowner qualifies, they then send an offer to the client in writing and begin the trial period. The trial period is generally about four months long or as otherwise dictated by the agreement. During the trial period, it is of the utmost importance that the homeowner makes every payment on time. This period is used to scrutinize the homeowner’s ability to make payments in the future. We always advise our clients to keep detailed records of their payments and any communication with the bank.

Following the trial period, the homeowner should receive the final loan modification documents from the mortgage lender. It’s common for banks to get stuck in this part of the process and not send the homeowner the finalization documents. This is very dangerous because until the modification is finalized with a signed contract the bank can still make other sly moves, such as proceeding with a foreclosure or changing the payment amounts.

This particular client got stuck in the final phase of the loan modification. He had been working tirelessly to finish processing the modification, he made all his trial payments and then some, and he continued communication with the bank regularly, but all his efforts were in vain. Luckily, he kept meticulous records of all his efforts. After signing up with our office, we immediately contacted the bank to push this finalization along. Shortly thereafter the bank sent him the loan finalization documents and we negotiated his loan payments significantly lower than the bank originally offered.

Banks are very difficult to work with, but we know exactly what needs to be done in order to get them moving. If your mortgage lender isn’t cooperating, know that you don’t have to do it alone. Call Graham Legal today at 305-985-6555 or send an email to schedule your free consultation; we can help.