The current administration has come up with the “Making Home Affordable Program” to help Americans avoid foreclosure by lowering
their payments to manageable amounts. I have seen some cases where it has helped some homeowners avoid foreclosure, you can check out their stories on our website’s blog.
What about the people that submit paper after paper, answer phone call after phone call, and still after months of frustration still have not heard an answer? Why is there not a time period given to the banks that tells them “you have three months to determine if a homeowner qualifies for this program”. In order to short-sale your home now-a-days you have to have been denied by your bank in the Making Home Affordable Program. How can people sell their houses if they can never get qualified or denied for this program?
Paul and Veronica are clients of mine that live in McHenry County. They bought their house in the end of 2006 during the boom in the market but paid lower for it because it was in foreclosure. They have a two-unit rental unit in their town, which pays for itself and leaves a profit each month, just enough to cover the rental and their own mortgage. Their mortgage is with Wells-Fargo, they have a home equity line with their bank which was used to pay for the rental unit.
Paul was rehabbing houses up until the real estate market went belly up. His wife was working with him but has since started staying home with their kids and babysitting some friends kids to pay the bills. Paul has been doing every side job offered to him, and applying for dozens of jobs hoping to find one. They are barely making ends meet each month. They contacted their bank to apply for the Making Home Affordable Program because they are not making enough money to cover their taxes and payments, not to mention their bills. Wells-Fargo sent out a package, assured them that they didn’t have to have missed payments, just be in danger of it.
This was a year and a half ago. Paul and Veronica have still not heard an answer from Wells-Fargo. Every week since they submitted the paperwork the bank has called and asked them for paperwork, most of which was already given to them in the original package submitted 18 months ago. Each month Wells-Fargo calls them to remind them to make their mortgage payment, which they have done while allowing other bills to fall by the wayside by figuring that a roof over their children’s heads and food in their stomachs is most important. They have been late on some of the payments, but have always ended up coming up with the money.
Is Wells-Fargo stringing them along because they have $130,000.00 in equity in their house after having put $150,000.00 down to buy the house? Or does this process just take more than 18 months to complete? I have had homeowners that have been given an answer with in three months that a mortgage went from $1,500. to $600. I have had homeowners that applied and went through six months of giving and re-giving paperwork only to be told that they bought their house two days after the dead-line. Really? The bank couldn’t have told them that six months sooner, the bank knew exactly when they bought the house, it was on the first page of the paperwork packet.
This program is supposed to help homeowners to avoid foreclosure by adjusting the mortgage to make it affordable. I have seen this program help people. I have also seen this program drag people through mountains of paperwork with no end in sight. Why has there not been a time limit put on the amount of time the banks have to approve or deny an applicant?
Please take the time to share your stories about the trials and tribulations of the Making Home Affordable Program. Let everyone know if you or someone you know has qualified, been denied, and how long the process took. Did you go through the entire process and now your mortgage payment is $100 less?