I have been impacted by the pandemic and was placed on a forbearance plan which has ended. I reached out to my mortgage servicer in hopes of receiving a loan modification.i received a letter saying SPS trial modification under the servicing agreement governing this account, the requested assistance option was not available, and SPS was unable to approve your request. What does this mean and what should I do? I am so scared of being kicked out. Thankfully I am still employed but my husband's hours have been significantly reduced..please direct me with some knowledge and steps I should be taking...I will fight for my house until the very end. Thank you.
Loan modification
- Thread starter Vavouna1
- Start date
Katneedsrefi
LoanSafe Member
Will your bank not let you put the missed payments on the back end of the loan? Also there is now a moratorium on foreclosures through or at least until June. Can’t remember if it’s through or until.
isisis
LoanSafe Member
Depending on that extent of Covid's impact on your ability to make payments you might be able to fight for your home using contract law. The reason is forbearance isn't really the appropriate response to non performance in the event of a pandemic. A pandemic is under the category of an "act of God" it excuses performance.
Here's some information on the topic.
Coronavirus, Foreclosure & Contract Law
If you're behind on payments and facing foreclosure because of the coronavirus don't give up. Stand up for your rights, the law may be on your side. While making monthly payments seems like an absolute under the mortgage contract, just like in any contract under certain circumstances...
www.loansafe.org
AllTooMuch
LoanSafe Member
I'm in the same boat. Our forebearance ends this month. I've been supplying documents to PHH since December trying to get a loan modification and I check in with them weekly. They're "still in review" and usually ask for yet another document every time I check in. It's a conventional loan, so I'm nervous. Did you have a back and forth like this with your mortgage lender before they rejected it? And did they give you ANY options at all?
My husband who is a school bus driver and was laid off last year because of COVID. I have reached out to SPS loan servicing numerous times to see if they could help me. I am currently one year behind on my mortgage. My husband has returned to work because because school has opened, and now SPS is saying that I am not eligible for any help such as the unemployment assistance program. I don’t know what to do anymore. I am losing sleep and want to keep my home. What is the next step that you suggest for me to do to fight for my home? I do still have my job thankfully, are there any programs for home owners like me facing this problem? Hopefully you have better luck. Please keep us posted.
Katneedsrefi
LoanSafe Member
If you were current at the time that you asked for the forbearance s you should be able to put your missed payments on the back end of the loan.
AllTooMuch
LoanSafe Member
Just curious, what makes you think that? We were current when we asked for the forebearance, had never been late before as a matter of fact.
I'm still waiting on an answer from PHH. I've been communicating every step of the way, supplying them with whatever info they've asked for, etc. The representative I spoke to this morning said they're "waiting for one more piece of information from the mortgage insurer before they can make their determination". Is it a good, bad, or no sign at all that it's taking this long?
Katneedsrefi
LoanSafe Member
It was the determination by the government Agency for housing. I cannot remember for the life of me what their acronym is right now. I will Google it and post a link, but basically because of coronavirus and people losing work due to no fault of their own whatever this agency is called made it so that mortgage companies and banks Would have to offer their customers the option to do further payments. I know that my bank, M and T bank, just requires that you were current at the time of the beginning of coronavirus.
Katneedsrefi
LoanSafe Member
FHFA! It was part of the cares act, I believe. But your learn would have to be owned by either Freddie or Fannie. But even a lot of private lenders are offering this option. I’m really surprised that your bank isn’t. I hope they cooperate with you and do some thing for you that will help. Good luck
AllTooMuch
LoanSafe Member
Our loan is with a private lender and they may offer that option...eventually. We're just waiting for whatever options they're going to offer us.
Your're lucky, they won't even allow me to send in any documentations for loan modification consideration. The only option they are giving me is repayment plan which is twice as much as my original payment. I'm praying that something will be said to help home owners like myself stay in their homes soon. I'm glad to hear I'm not alone. If I hear anything I will post it here.
Survivor_IN
LoanSafe Member
Here is the proposed rule seeking commentary by the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). Note this is 150 pages and the comments are currently closed (sometimes they extend these, good to watch this site for latest news)
Protections for Borrowers Affected by the COVID-19 Emergency Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Regulation X (consumerfinance.gov)
They are considering extending CARES Act and foreclosure protection another 6 months to prevent everyone from being foreclosed on or with a modification pending at the same time as most requests are set to expire at the same time. FHA currently is allowing up to 18 months. On an ordinary day, servicers can not foreclose prior to 6 months past due. I expect these things to potentially be extended.
Also, private lenders/servicers frequently make you jump paperwork hoops without telling you why. Almost as if they are stalking your income for repeated requests for monthly bank statements, right? Usually they need 3 months before they offer a trial modification, but I suppose they are waiting for your income to increase or your hardship to end.
PS - FHA and gov sponsored loans don't require endless papers. They accept your signature on the doc that says you were affected by COVID 19. If you don't have gov sponsored loan, yes you can request a modification, but they tend to jack you around a little bit. If you can't pay, then you can't pay. You are not alone. I expect the government to address this.
Protections for Borrowers Affected by the COVID-19 Emergency Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Regulation X (consumerfinance.gov)
They are considering extending CARES Act and foreclosure protection another 6 months to prevent everyone from being foreclosed on or with a modification pending at the same time as most requests are set to expire at the same time. FHA currently is allowing up to 18 months. On an ordinary day, servicers can not foreclose prior to 6 months past due. I expect these things to potentially be extended.
Also, private lenders/servicers frequently make you jump paperwork hoops without telling you why. Almost as if they are stalking your income for repeated requests for monthly bank statements, right? Usually they need 3 months before they offer a trial modification, but I suppose they are waiting for your income to increase or your hardship to end.
PS - FHA and gov sponsored loans don't require endless papers. They accept your signature on the doc that says you were affected by COVID 19. If you don't have gov sponsored loan, yes you can request a modification, but they tend to jack you around a little bit. If you can't pay, then you can't pay. You are not alone. I expect the government to address this.
Thank you for posting this. I will be following this closely.
Katneedsrefi
LoanSafe Member
I’m not sure if this is where I should post this but here goes. I had to ask for a forbearance for both my home loan and my home equity loan. When my forbearance with my bank was getting ready to end they gave me the option to put the missed payments on the back end of the loan. That was a relief. The servicer for the home equity loan- SLS, likely will not do the same. It’s not a federally backed loan. So basically, I’m wondering if it’s likely that they’ll do a modification? I’ve talked to a handful of customer service reps and at first they were saying I should be able to do a deferment l and now that they realized we’re talking about a home equity loan and not home loan they are not sure and are saying it would have to be investor approved. The other thing I’m wondering is if I should just try to get a home equity loan with another bank since interest rates are low right now. My loan to value ratio is pretty good because I think my house is worth almost 400k and I only owe 106k on the home-equity loan. What do y’all think?
Survivor_IN
LoanSafe Member
Good question. Maybe others will chime in.
I would hope you could re-do the home equity at current lower rates in order to reduce the payment and meet the obligations. I think with current pandemic-related federal law protections and special allowances are that missed payments are not supposed to damage your credit but this could change in the future once federal protections expire.
I would hope you could re-do the home equity at current lower rates in order to reduce the payment and meet the obligations. I think with current pandemic-related federal law protections and special allowances are that missed payments are not supposed to damage your credit but this could change in the future once federal protections expire.