It’s a confusing time to be a
homeowner. Every time we turn on
the TV or listen to the radio on the way home from work we’re bombarded with
ads for refinances, debt consolidations, and loan modifications. Even network news informs us that this
is a great time to refinance. The
very next segment tells us that the government has just come out with new
programs designed to help people modify their existing loans. What direction is best for the
homeowner? Can I refinance? Should I refinance if my mortgage
company is willing to modify my loan?
What are the credit implications of a loan modification? Can I modify my loan if I’m current on
my payments? Can I refinance if
I’m behind on my payments?
These are tough questions. The people out there providing answers
are usually the ones profiting. Of
course a mortgage company will tell you to refinance (if you can qualify). Naturally a company that provides loan
modification services tells you that your best option is to modify your loan,
and then demand up to $5000 up front to do it.
I’m lucky. I found
an organization that was uniquely qualified to help me. I am not exaggerating when I say that after
speaking with 10 other companies, engaging the services of two of them and
still coming within a week from losing my home and virtually had lost all hope
that I and my family would be able to stay in our home, I found a company who was able to help, The ASCENT Network! Sounds too good to be true, it’s
not; let me explain.
My wife and I were on the verge of
losing our home in March of 2011.
We were not one of these people who were just trying to “beat” the
mortgage company to get a better rate, we saw that rates were going down and we
thought we could refinance our current mortgage. We were not late on our payments, nor had we ever been late,
or credit was GREAT and we were told by “mortgage professionals” that
qualifying for a new loan would be no problem. We began the process which took over 3 months, during that
period we were told that payoffs had been ordered for our existing loan and we
were not to send in a payment as that would change the payoff amount and mess
things up. Well come to find out
that was the absolute WORST piece of advice we have ever been given, by the
time the loan was “approved” the new lender re-ran our credit only to find that
our once perfect credit had dropped by over 140 points due to us not making the
past 3 mortgage payments. They
declined our application for a refinance and now our credit was shot.
We were then steered to a loan
modification we again ran into nothing but headaches. Delays, lies, confusion and misleading information seemed to
be par for the course. We tried to
make arrangements to catch up our payments; they would accept “partial
payments”. We tried to get a
modification and were told we were declined because we did not submit all of
the forms (which we did, but the bank said they never received them). We really thought we were going
to lose our home! We then were
introduced to The ASCENT Network, and the bottom line is what they were able to
accomplish was simply amazing.
Today our loan is modified and current I might add. Our payment is some $640.00 less per
month and we no longer fear we are going to lose our home.
Working with ASECNT was also
affordable. ASCENT is a non-profit
organization and after researching at least 10 companies, not only did my wife
and I find ASCENT’s costs to be the lowest over all, but they also allow us to
pay for the costs of the services they provide over the course of a year. This took all of the question and fear
away from us as to how we were going to be able to afford their services since
we didn’t need to come up with a lump sum at the very start.
Now ASCENT is also helping us get back
on track with our credit (which was totally trashed because of the mortgage
problems I outlined earlier). The
sad fact is that after falling behind on a mortgage one’s credit is left
ravaged for years to come. If you
have any hope of participating in the credit economy---buying another house,
refinancing your existing one, or financing a vehicle---then it’s very
important to have strong credit.
Now more than ever. What ASCENT
does for all its clients is work with them to restore and re-establish their
credit. It’s not uncommon
for an ASCENT client to modify their loan, and then at the end of their
membership walk away with stronger credit than they’ve ever had. That’s truly doing more for less. That’s the ASCENT difference. They did it for both my
wife and I and that is why I wrote this.
John and Carey S.
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