Homeowners losing their homes is not an isolated situation and the latest research points to a whopping 4 million or more this year. The government is trying to pitch in with the Home Affordable Modification program (HAMP).

The question in many homeowner’s mind these days is how to stop foreclosure.

The best available is a loan modification. This helps the homeowner set up a more affordable payment either by lowering the rate of interest or by increasing the term period of the loan. Lenders are not interested in people lose their homes. Lenders make their money by lending money and hence would much rather have mortgage loans paid. Therefore, most lenders are tickled pink to work with homeowners to renegotiate a repayment plan to keep people in their homes if and when possible.

The mortgage modification has the concurrence of both borrower and lender to the loan and generally the lender scrutinizes the background of the borrower before creating a new or better loan term. The circumstances that are looked into include the current pressing problem of the borrower, the ability to pay the loan, the amount that is owed, the equity in the property and if future positioning favors regular payment. There is no doubt that the financial state of the future will be a deciding factor. The borrower would have to demonstrate their mortgage payment history to prove there was a superior earlier record.

Restructuring a mortgage is absolutely possible if the borrower effectively conveys their situation through an application and a succinct supporting letter that entails the reasons of the present financial maelstrom and a plan to rectify the problem. These documents should be strengthened with income statements and or income tax documents of the borrower.

Save yourself from the headache of a foreclosure. Loan modification is the best alternative for the sunk, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The Law Offices of Janian and Associates is a Real Estate Litigation law firm. save your home As many as 6 million families are expected to face foreclosure in the next several years. The Law Offices of Janian and Associates is a Real Estate Litigation law firm.

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Understanding about this method can help alleviate the worry and strain of handling the dangers of foreclosure and can help you to solve your financial issues instantly. To be able to understand the basics, I have enclosed the Top Five Q&As concerning the loan modification process:

1. Exactly how should i find out if I meet the criteria for the loan modification method? The very first prerequisite your loan provider will be searching for is proof that you can easily pay the new monthly loan payment today and in the future. You’ll also have to provide evidence that you or your family have encountered some kind of a financial difficulty.

2. Just what modifications are going to be made to my original loan? Your past due loan could be brought current, and your rate of interest might be reduced. An extended term could possibly be available and sometimes even a reduction in your principle balance can be set up.

3. Will I still need to pay my overdue fees & charges? The majority of loan providers are now providing the option to waive your overdue fees and also your penalties should they feel you are eligible for the loan mod. Get ready to inquire your loan company for a detailed accounting and outline of your fees to make sure all your fees are warranted.

4. Can some of my missed payments be waived? Although your lender will not forgive the monies due she or he can generally permit your past due payments to be added into the new modified loan balance and distribute the money owed over the term of your modified loan.

5. Once my modification is approved how long will the new payment be in place? Under the revised loan you will be placed on a 3 month trial for the new payment. You need to pay this new payment on time for the first 3 months, then that new payment will probably be fixed for the next 5 years.

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But consumers may be totally surprised how easily one can become a victim of identity theft and how often it occurs even if you still have the card physically in your possession.

There is a new kind of crime that is becoming more and more frequent called “skimming.” Criminals are now taking full advantage of technology and can steal your credit card information at a moments notice.

Just recently reported by the St Louis Refinancing Group news team, skimming has received more news attention than ever due to banking incidents happening at Bank of America banks.

Skimming occurs most frequently at retail type stores that process credit and debit card payments which would include bars, gas stations, restaurants and get this, ATMs.

Let’s take for example an employee who decides to commit theft. They simply steal a customer’s credit card information off the magnetic strip on the back doing so by means of scanning with a hand held electronic device.

Once they have your private financial information, they can now go on their dream shopping spree or sell your information to criminals where counterfeit cards are made.

But there is now a new way to capture your card information. When you use your cards at an ATM, they can steal your data by using cameras or personally watching you key in your 4 digit PIN number.

What is sad is that most cardholders never know that the fraud has taken place nor any idea something is wrong until the criminal activity is spotted on their bank statement. And that is if they look at their statement very closely.

So, here are 10 tips to help keep your financial information private and safe:

1. Keep your personal information updated with your bank or financial institution. This is very important if an issue every occurs and you need to dispute any fraudulent charges.

2. Take the time and write down all customer service numbers on the back of your cards so they are readily available if your cards are lost or stolen.

3. Never use an ATM that is dirty or in bad shape. They may not be in working condition or may be a counterfeit machine put their to steal your credit card information.

4. Always let your bank or credit company know when you travel and where you are going so that they can monitor purchases and decline any suspicious transactions.

5. Watch the signage at all ATMs. This may tip you off that something isn’t right such as ‘enter your PIN twice to complete transaction, etc.

6. If your bank(s) offers email banking alerts, make sure you sign up for them.

7. If you notice that the front of an ATM machine looks damaged or loose, this may be a sign that someone has attached a skimming device.

8. Keep in mind that the location of the ATM you are patronizing. If there are suspicious individuals casing the ATM, they probably want your cash or are wanting to watch you type your PIN number. If you ever lose our card in a machine, just leave. It may be best to politely turn down assistance from someone who may have been watching you. You can always call your bank and get a new card.

9. Make it a habit to cover the keypad with your other hand when keying in your PIN number. This will prevent someone or a camera from capturing your numbers.

10. Although ATM skimming is growing at a quick pace, skimming occurs more often at retail outlets such as restaurants. If possible, always keep your card in sight. Try not to let anyone leave with your card if you can help it. If you are in a retail store and they say they have to go to another counter to run the card, follow them. If in doubt, pay with cash.

Another good piece of advice that was mentioned above is to check your balance on a regular basis when your statement arrives.

You should also stay abreast of the laws protecting your credit card rights and that these laws do not always apply to debit card purchases. Always use your credit card if possible when making purchases.

Always notify your bank or credit card company within two days of losing your cards. This may help limit your losses to $50. The worst thing you can do is prolong this needed phone call. You may end up suffering greater financial losses by waiting.

Looking to find the best deal on a St Louis refinancing loan, then visit www.StLouisRefinancingGroup.com to find the best St Louis finance advice on a St Louis mortgage for you and your family. Get your questions answered by calling the St Louis loan experts at 877-334-0210 or 314-334-0210.

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Plenty of people are usually stunned when they realize they are upside down, and until only recently, they most likely never heard about something known as a short sale, which is really simply selling your home for whatever you could get and then producing an agreement with the lender about the remaining balance due.

A lot of people usually are not happy with the short sale strategy, but do upside down mortgage holders have an alternative other than short sales. The response now is yes. There’s a new method available now called the Principal Balance Reduction Program.

A Principal Balance Reduction Program is in essence a system wherein home notes are sold to a hedge fund at a great low cost, the hedge fund decreases the total of principal owed to 95 percent of the market value and alters a number of terms and the rate of interest for the home owner.

Is this brand new option for you for anyone who is an upside down mortgage holder who’s been contemplating a short sale? Quite possibly. The huge benefits to you would be considerable savings, the potential to retain your house by effectively short selling the house to your self, and keeping your tax incentives and not ruining your credit history.

If you happen to discover youself to be dealing with the housing problems head-on, it is advisable to learn about the principal balance reduction program. Can upside down mortgage holders have a choice other than short sales? You bet. So, explore it should you have to.

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A foreclosure is legal proceeding in which the holder of a mortgage, or other lien holder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of the agreement and takes possession of the property.

When a mortgage or home loan or mortgage is underwritten, the lender or bank will get a security interest from the borrower. In effect, they are pledging the property or home as security collateral for the loan. If they fail to meet the payment terms, the lender or mortgage holder can try to foreclose, or repossess the property.

Besides failing to pay the mortgage note or loan, other lien holders can also foreclose the owner’s right of redemption for other debts, such as for overdue taxes, unpaid contractors’ bills or overdue HOA dues or assessments.

The actual process of foreclosure on a residential mortgage loan can begin after the owner has failed to comply with the mortgage agreement. At that point, the creditor, usually the bank, would want to take possession of the property in order to try to recover their principle by reselling the property.

In foreclosure, the lender can opt to try and sell the property and keep the proceeds to pay off its mortgage and any legal costs. When this happens, this is considered as a lender foreclosing on the mortgage or loan. While there are some legal remedies, it is obviously much better to avoid going into foreclosure to begin with. Though it seems the real estate market has begun to rebound, or at least stopped it’s deadly downward spiral, the number of loan defaults is still very, very high.

The author is currently researching Homedics Back Massager and Homedics Massage Chair for a magazine article on massage.

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During the paperwork process ensure that that you remove all unnecessary expenses from the financial statement in order to demonstrate to the lender that you’ll be able to afford to pay the home loan payment. Your payment needs to be approximately 30% of your monthly income. So plan all your expenses and spending budget by keeping this point in mind.

The next matter you need to keep in mind in order to fit the requirements is that you need to be presently residing in the house you are attempting to acquire a modification for. This really is a very crucial requirement that you need to follow. Second properties or family vacation houses do not typically qualify for loan modifications.

And so when it comes to fulfilling the mortgage loan modification requirements, the main strategy is producing an accurate financial statement. This is a very critical document that your lender will meticulously evaluate. The lender also needs to know your household income and your expenses in order to review your capacity to pay back.

Be sure that you satisfy the mortgage loan modification criteria, collect the needed paperwork, bank statements, income tax and other financial statements. Make certain that you manage all the paperwork correctly so that your application will be approved. This will help you come out of the present financial trouble in a better way.

So that you can guarantee approval, I strongly suggest you get assistance from loan modification experts. These professionals speak your lender’s vocabulary and have an understanding of the process required. Many modification services offer free evaluation to get going.

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There’s a mistaken assumption among many people that they won’t be able to qualify for a loan modification from their lender, but that’s generally not the case nowadays. This is because the federal government has stepped in and started up a special modification program aimed at helping people stay in their homes, paying mortgages that have been modified such that they reduce the monthly payment.

The first thing to realize about any sort of modification is that it’s basically asking the lender to rewrite the terms of the home loan. It has to be done such that a lower monthly payment results or there’s no use in applying for it, to tell the truth. At its heart, the lender will be agreeing to write down at least a portion of the home loan in order to ensure a lower payment, in other words.

It’s the case that most lenders wouldn’t normally be amenable to such an action but, with economic circumstances being the way they are, more are coming on board every day. They all understand that it’s better to get at least a little of a home loan than to get nothing at all if it goes into foreclosure, in other words. And, with the government now involved, lenders are a bit more at ease in doing so.

Many lenders have also set up their own private modification programs, which should come as welcome news. If a person holding a mortgage doesn’t qualify for the government version, he might be able to qualify for a private lender version. It might not have as generous a term setup as the government program, but it should still result in a lower payment nonetheless.

It’s always much smarter to contact a lender about a modification at the beginning, when financial hardship first begins to rear its ugly head, than at the end when the loan is so far gone and into default that there’s almost nothing that can be done about it other than foreclosure. Taking care of the issue at the beginning might also result in more favorable new terms than waiting, for what it’s worth.

It should also be understood that no small amount of paperwork is normally involved when it comes to applying for a modification. Even the government will require a hardship letter — in which one lays out why one can’t make the current monthly payment — as well as proof of income sufficient to make the new payment, if the loan is modified.

Because the economy has caused many people to enter into financial hardship to one degree or another there are several home loan modification programs now in existence. Just remember that, to qualify for any of them, there will need to be enough income to show that payment ability exists. As well, contacting a lender well ahead of time may also help.

Need street-smart tips on getting Mortgage Modification? Visit Rockwood’s site about DIY Loan Modification at Home Loan Modification

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Another millions of other American homeowners had not reached such financial heights before the housing market meltdown. Some of them are young, just getting started on wealth-building. Others are less fortunate or not as well-connected. Some are in the midst of personal calamity like a divorce, death in the family or are really sick themselves. Others are working in causes that distract them from wealth-building…things like church, the environment, helping the homeless, AA, etc. And, some just have vocational priorities like teaching or preaching or other fields that don’t pay well.

And, finally, another millions of other American homeowners participated in a horrendous and shameful scam that foolishly, greedily and sometimes fraudulently enabled them to borrow too much money from the banks who borrowed too much from Wall Street who borrowed too much from the world…oh, my!These characters not only used that money to purchase dwellings near and even in “good” neighborhoods way above their class but they had the audacity to actually move their families into them! Wow! Everyone seems to agree that these guys can be dealt with by foreclosure.

There are heroes and villains, struggling with foreclosure, in each group. In my work as a foreclosure consultant I get on the phone and across the table from hundreds of struggling homeowners each month. ‘The vast majority in three groups are heroes – Americans just trying to extend our heritage of restlessness and hope for a better life for our families.

I bristle when I hear the industry pundits pander to smug viewers by attacking the members of the financial lower class. Certainly there are as many housing crisis villains in the wealthy upper-class as in the struggling lower-class.

So, lighten-up on snootiness. Let’s clean-up the mess but be fair. The blame game should be blind to socio-economic class. Because the blame’s all around.

Want street-smart tips on foreclosure help and ways to get Mortgage Modification? Visit Rockwood’s site about DIY Loan Modification at Home Loan Modification

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If you are also in a financial pickle then you must go for a loan modification with no postponement. However, the most important thing is that the people who apply for loan modification usually are not completing their information very accurately causing problems and usually rejections.

For anyone who is applying for a loan modification then complete the loan modification form very clearly. You should take help of pros who can guide you on the various concerns relevant to loan modification. If you believe you can fill the information yourself and save your funds, then go ahead.

On the other hand, if you are not certain about your capabilities then you will want to take help of financial pros. As a matter of fact they are in better position as they work with number of such forms daily so they can guide you better and can assist you in completing your form correctly. All you need is to supply them the required paperwork.

Here is great news for the many who have applied for the loan modification approval. Peeved at the amount of difficulties being raised by the applicants over delays in approval, the government has applied certain actions to speed up the procedure. Under the new guidelines now the applicants will receive a response about his/her application status from the loan provider within 10 days. Additionally, the companies will be informed about the approval to the applicants within 30 days.

Therefore, after filing your loan modification application if you are not receiving any reply from the loan provider then you can inquire about the delay. So no more can your loan company fool you regarding the application status.

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As legislators put new laws in place to curb mortgage fraud, there appears to be a new kind of undetected mortgage fraud conducted by agents from major banks. On January 15th 2010, CNBC real estate reporter, Diana Olick produced a controversial story invo

Before writing her column, Diane was cautioned by Jeremy Brandt, a CEO of a few firms ranging from 1800CashOffer, HomeFlux.com and FastHomeOffer.com. These companies organize unions between short-sale agents, investors and sellers to produce short-sale transactions. Jeremy Brandt had been receiving lots of grumbles with issues regarding second lien holders.

As the real estate crisis worsens with many homeowners underwater or owing more than their houses are valued compounded with the dreadful unemployment problem, short-sales is now a top option for many homeowners who have not managed to obtain a loan modification or a refinance. A short-sale is when a bank agrees to sell the property for an amount lower than the mortgage balance owed. The National Association of Realtors indicated that short-sales was responsible for roughly 12% of all home sales in 2009.

Not all short-sales are easy. They get complicating and difficult whenever there are 2 loans involved. In order for a short-sale to work, parties will need to seek the permission of the second lien holder to release the lien. If the second lien holder refuses to do so, then there will be no short-sale and the home enters into foreclosure with the first lien holder getting possession of the house. The second lien holder will not get anything since its debt is subordinate to the primary debt (first lien holder).

Usually, the first lien holder will arrange a partial payment for the second lien holder to drop the lien thus permitting the short-sale to go through. The second lien holder isn’t obliged to agree but more are starting to take payments as they rather receive something instead of nothing. All of this is within the confines of the legal rules.

For most 2nd lien holders, they might get either little or less. Due to this, many 2nd lien holders are requesting real estate agents or home purchasers in a short-sale to pay ‘under the table’. Under the table means not revealing the transaction in HUD settlement statements. According to Brandt, second lien holders are very forward with their demands proposing that if the first lender realizes the 2nd lien holder is getting payment, the first lender will cease the short-sale. These 2nd lenders usually demand a cashier’s check prior to closing while selecting not to reveal in the closing documents and HUD statements. Once the 2nd lender obtains payment, they will then agree for the short-sale to go through. According to RESPA rules and the lawyers that Diane Olick had discussed with, the actions above are not legal.

RESPA is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a law that was enacted in 2008 to protect consumers so that they receive disclosures at various times of a transaction. It is designed to curb and outlaw kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services. RESPA is a HUD consumer protection statute, enforced by HUD, designed to enhance and protect homebuyers during their home purchase.

Brian Sullivan, a RESPA expert announced it to be breaking the law. Jeremy Brandt commented that he was notified by 200 agents claiming that they’ve had these illegal requests from members of Citi Mortgage, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America including other larger banks. While many of these transactions remain unseen and hidden, it helps to promote more short-sales which result into more home purchases thus benefiting the U.S. home market. Though there has not been any active investigation into this issue, a study of RESPA laws confirm it to be clearly illegal.

CNBC made contact with all three important lenders about this problem and below are their following answers. JP Morgan declined to make a statement when CNBC confronted its media department.

Bank of America denied any practice to CNBC and replied with the following statement: “Bank of America enforces a policy that all disbursements are documented on the settlement statement for short sales. When we are servicing a first mortgage with a second lien held by another investor, if the second lien holder asks for off-HUD payments, we will not approve the transaction (if we have knowledge of it). It is also against Bank of America’s policy to accept off-HUD payments on its second liens.”

Citi Mortgage responded to CNBC with the following statement: “We work very hard to help distressed homeowners find solutions for their financial challenges. In our attempt to amicably resolve the debt, we will generally negotiate a reduced settlement with the homeowner in order to release a second lien. Unlike some lenders who refuse to reduce the payoffs on second liens, we choose to reduce the payoff amounts in some situations to assist the borrower. We do not provide instructions to settlement agents on how to fill out the settlement statement or any other closing documents, and we certainly do not require settlement agents or any other parties to violate applicable laws.

Learn how to stop foreclosure by keeping informed on the latest government assisted programs. Download the Free Podcast about Short Sale Fraud for your own use, blog or website.

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