Killeen & Waco Home Loan Modification Lawyer

How a Home Loan Modification Lawyer in Central Texas Can Help

If you are considering a home loan modification, talk with a lawyer about your options. Erin can review your case, explore your options, and help you move forward.

As a home loan modification attorney, Erin can help you by:

• Avoiding foreclosure
• Avoiding a Chapter 13 bankruptcy
• Explaining, completing, and delivering a complete home loan modification application to your mortgage servicer
• Gathering the documentation to build the strongest case possible
• Appealing wrongful denials of requests for home loan modifications
• Advising you on the law and your rights
•  Explaining the repayment terms proposed on a successful home loan modification application

These are just a few of the ways that a home loan modification lawyer can help you. If you are trying to avoid foreclosure and keep your home, an attorney like Erin may be able to help.

Potential Types of Loan Modifications

Every home loan is unique, and the type of mortgage modification you use will depend on the circumstances of your case. Erin can walk you through your options and help you decide which one is best to pursue. 

A mortgage modification might give you:

• Extended time to pay back the loan: You may be able to obtain an extension of your payment term or the length of your home loan payment. This allows you to pay back the arrearages on your home loan over a longer time and for a lesser monthly amount. Those lower monthly payments can reduce the financial pressure on you and make your home loan more affordable.
• Reduced interest rates: A home loan modification may also allow you to get a reduced interest rate on your mortgage. A lower interest rate can reduce your monthly burden, resulting in significant savings and retention of your home.
• Reduced principal: Some lenders may reduce the amount of principal that you owe on your home loan. Although this option is rare, Erin has seen obtained it for some of her clients. 
• Changing to fixed rate from adjustable rate: When people first buy a home, they may take advantage of a low variable rate loan. Over time, the interest rates on these loans can greatly increase. By switching to a fixed-rate loan through a home loan modification, Erin will be able to help you reduce your monthly payments.

These are a few of the ways that you may be able to modify your home loan. Erin can discuss options that avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy and allow you to keep your home.

An Overview of the Home Loan Modification Process

A home loan modification application can be complex and involved. Erin has successfully obtained hundreds of home loan modifications for her clients throughout the past decade. She has a personal library of all the forms and required documents needed by each mortgage servicer in order to complete a successful modification. She is lobbying the federal courts to allow for a unified portal to get required modification documentation to servicers in a unified manner. She is a strong believer in the loan modification process.

Erin Baker Shank can help you by:

• Understanding your situation and your goals: A loan modification lawyer like Erin can review the facts of your situation, listen to your goals, and help you understand the best way to save your home for foreclosure.
• Delaying or stopping a foreclosure: If you are facing a foreclosure on your home, a home loan modification application may delay or stop it. By completing a home loan application, your home can be protected from foreclosure while the lender reviews the application. If the foreclosure cannot be delayed, she will file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to stop the foreclosure on your home.
• Gathering documents about your income, expenses, and debts: As part of your home loan modification, you will need to get Erin the same documentation that is necessary to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. That is why Erin frequently files a home loan modification application and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. This allows her clients to discharge their unsecured debt and restructure their home loan to cure the missed payments, thereby saving homes without filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.
• Explaining any financial hardship: Home loan modification applications require you to prepare a financial hardship statement. Erin prepares that document for you so that your financial predicament is accurately and completely explained to your mortgage servicer.
• Preparing your application: Home loan modification applications can be tricky. If any documents are incomplete or missing, your application may be denied. Erin will prepare your application for you, obtain your signatures on a touch-free basis, and submit it electronically to your mortgage servicer. Her paralegals then call your mortgage servicer on a weekly basis to nudge your application through the approval process.
• Fighting for you in case of refusals or denials: In some cases, lenders may refuse a home loan modification or deny it altogether. This may be due to problems with the application, or it may be that a lender is acting illegally. Erin can be your advocate in this process. She has filed two lawsuits in federal court against mortgage servicers who have wrongfully refused to modify her clients= home loans. Those clients have retained their homes and may be awarded damages by a jury for their actions in denying the home loan modification requests she filed for her clients.

Home Loan Modification FAQs 

What Documents Will I Need to Prepare for a Home Loan Modification?

Applying for a home loan modification requires extensive documentation of your financial state and the current status of your mortgage. You can save time if you prepare some of the necessary items before you meet with an experienced attorney. For reference, you should bring any correspondence you have received from your creditor, lender, or mortgage company. You may have received notifications of delinquency in addition to offers of loan modification C bring any official letters you have in your possession and bring your mortgage statement as well. Additionally, bring bank statements from at least the past two months. This will help you and your attorney determine your financial situation. Bills and tax returns will help with this, too. You should also come with recent paycheck stubs or other proof of income statements.

Is a Home Loan Modification Right for Me?

A home loan modification may be a good fit for you. Many people use home loan modifications when they have suffered a financial hardship. You may be going through a hardship right now. However, you believe you will be able to make reduced or modified payments in the future. If that is the case, a home loan modification may work for you. If you have enough income to pay a modified home loan on your primary residence, you may qualify for a loan modification.

Does Applying for a Loan Modification Stop Foreclosure?

A home loan modification may be able to stop foreclosure. It is important to speak with a lawyer about your situation as soon as possible. In general, lenders are not legally allowed to do dual tracking. Dual tracking occurs when a lender pushes forward with a foreclosure while discussing a home loan modification. If you are facing a foreclosure, speak with Erin about how a loan modification may help you.

My Loan Modification Was Denied, Now What?

There are a few options available if your loan modification is denied. You may be able to appeal the decision, or you may be able to work with your lender to negotiate a new agreement. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy may also be an option. Whatever route you take, retaining an experienced loan modification attorney such as Erin can improve your odds of success moving forward.

Can I Still Apply for HAMP?

As of December 2016, the Home Affordable Modification Program has ended. The old program supported homeowners who were having difficulty making their mortgage payment as the housing industry suffered. Even though HAMP has ended, all of the mortgage servicers and investors are required to offer home loan modifications to their delinquent customers.  Erin is familar with the requirements of each servicer and can represent you in your request for a home loan modification.  Home loan modification can still prevent a foreclosure. The process of modification can still prove beneficial to the creditor and borrower, but it can be difficult to navigate the complex process of applying for a modification on a delinquent home loan while also retaining your home and preventing that same lender from foreclosing on it.  Homeowners struggling financially can use the help of a skilled home loan modification attorney.

What Effect Could a Home Loan Modification Have on My Credit?

 If you are behind on your home mortgage payments,  your mortgage servicer  is reporting negatively on your credit report. However, when Erin obtains a home loan modification for you, the mortgage is then reported as current.  This will help restore your credit, at least as to your home loan.