Loan Modification? What’re The Odds?

Posted by Help Now on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 4:42am.

I see advertisements all over the Internet trying to get me to take advantage of the government mortgage relief plan by getting a Loan Modification. It got me curious about the success rate of this program and what the chances are of having a successful Loan Modification.

Alan Zibel, a Real Estate writer for the Associated Press, wrote a report a few days ago that looks at these questions. He made some interesting discoveries. You can read his full report here: Loan Modification So Far. He found that only 4% of homeowners who have attempted to get a loan modification have succeeded. Of course your odds of getting a loan modification largely depends on who your lender is.

To explore this Mr. Zibel looks at the numbers for Bank of America. He first points out that getting a loan modification with Bank of America requires more time than with other lenders. "...be prepared for the long time it takes to get an answer," he said, "the difficulty in accessing anyone to ask a question, and the reoccuring battle of lost paperwork and new phone numbers to fax or call." If a homeowner endures the ambiguity of silence, the frustration of changed numbers, the inaccessibility of assistance, and the possibility of lost paperwork... what are their chances? In the past Bank of America has only successfully completed 98 modifications. To put this in perspective GMAC has successfully complete 7,100 loan modifications since March!

How much work and stress do you want to go through for a 4% success ratio (even worse if you are with Bank of America)? A watchdog report this week says this government program "appear[s] capable of preventing only a fraction of foreclosures". There is a better way. If you're behind on payments or are afraid of foreclosure, contact Utah Dave's CDPE for additional options.

About the Author:

Utah Dave - Neighborhood ExpertUtah Dave - Daybreak Neighboorhood Expert and Local Resident

My friends nicknamed me Utah Dave in high school because they said it didn't matter where we went in Utah, I would know how to get there and who we needed to talk to. The name sticks today as UtahDave has formed into a professional real estate network of Neighborhood Experts all across the state. I live in Daybreak with my wife and 4 amazing children. I enjoy dancing (which is how I met my wife Dawn) as well as traveling, coaching, and learning.

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