Real Estate Home Mortgages/Loan Modification

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Expert: Al Rodenburg - 3/6/2009


Question
Due to a hardship we had to relocate from Kitty Hawk, NC to Atlanta, GA. I was self employed in Kitty Hawk and sold my business. We kept our house in Kitty Hawk due to wanting to move back in the max of a couple of years. I am currently employed making around 70K and I am the only income of my family. Due to a bad business partner we had to claim Bankruptcy for financial obligations that were owed for a previous company I owned.

The hardship was due to my mother in law having cancer and us needing to relocate to take care of her. We currently live in her home and pay no rent, we are looking to get a loan modification for a hardship on our home in Kitty Hawk. Everything I see states it needs to be “Owner Occupied”, this is our only residence and we will most likely be moving bad to Kitty Hawk within a year or so. We currently are renting our home.

The current mortgage is a 9% - 30 year interest only - $315000 held by Countrywide.
The current value of the home is around $315000-330000.
Never late on a mortgage payment, and never late on payments for debt I had to claim bankruptcy on until the bankruptcy.

My question is can I qualify for any assistance even thou I do not “live” in the home but it is not an “investment” property? We are going to move back possibly as soon as the end of this year.

It appears there is a way to do the loan modification but I tried to call Countrywide (a lot) and got “NO” every time. They said due to the fact I did not “live” in the home they could do nothing for me, they already were doing their best with the interest only loan I currently have and this is when my credit score was at 670.

I have been reading a lot online, it seems; almost, I should just not make the payments and I will be pushed to the front of the line and get dealt with, just does not seem right to me but at this point I do not want to lose this home. The other option I see is to work with a professional loan modification specialist or NACA. Any other options out there I may not be aware of? Subprime lending?

Please, Please let me know any thoughts you may have.

I thank you very much for your time.


Answer
I really can not assist you with this issue; I'm sorry. There is so much contradictory information out there and the laws and underwriting guidelines continue to change, it's very difficult to give any sound advice.
I do know that unless you actually live in the home as a primary residence the loan mod options do not seem to be available to you.
Sorry for your situation,
- Al
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This topic answers questions related to purchasing a home, owning a home, home ownership, mortgage education, mortgage applications, and mortgage needs whether buying a first home or refinancing a current loan. Issues related to home ownership, home equity, mortgage education, refinacing options, home improvment finacing, first time home loans, home equity loans, vactation home loans, and mortgages for investment homes are dealt with here also. Though not the primary focus of this topic, Home Equity Lines of Credits (HELOCS), reverse mortgages, and calculating home equity may also be asked. If you do not see your home mortgae, home finacing, or home equity question answered in this area then please ask a question here

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Al Rodenburg

Expertise

Now that we are heading into mid-2011, there does not seem to be an end in sight to the sagging housing market. In addition, we have definitely seen the end of historically low rates - as the government heads rapidly to exiting support for (GSE's) FannieMae and FreddieMac. I wish I could assure you that things will get better soon, but it doesn't seem like we will be poised for upward momentum until late 2012. =============================== 2010 portends a turn around in mortgage lending; there is great pressure to make certain that things stabilize and that loans become more readily available; however, don't expect subprime loans to ever come back; whereas I expect that once things are on a little more concrete foundation, the Alt-A market will come back, albeit not with such aggressive LTV's or documentation "guidelines". There is a crying need to for a non-GSE related lender to step forward in the former Alt-A market to work with investors that have more than 4 financed properties. There has been lip service from the GSE's but if you have more than 4 there does not seem to be any chance of getting reasonable financing.(private hard money lenders are out there, but the rates and closing costs are typically very high, by comparison).

Experience

Over 12 years, originating primary residence and investment propery mortgage loan financing - with an emphasis on making the process as simple, transparent and quick as possible for the consumer. ================= After a brief departure from the mortgage business, Al says "It is great to be back in the mortgage industry. I think we will see 2010 become a watershed point in American home financing. I expect 2010 to be the start of a different perception of mortgage loan financing in the United States. We can be proud of the agencies that have come together to form the NMLS (National Mortgage Licensing System), which will be implemented nationally by July, 2010 - and mark the end of deceptive lending practices. The consumer can finally compare apples with apples.(All mortgage loan officers will be required to pass national exams as well as go through thorough background checks)." BANK OF TEXAS is part of BOK Financial - a regional bank with $24 billion in assets and the LARGEST financial institution in the U.S. that did NOT take TARP funds from the government. With over 12 years experience as not only a mortgage loan originator, but broker, account executive, CFO and CEO in the industry - Al brings a wealth of experience to your mortgage experience (whether it is for your primary residence or you are looking at financing an investment property). Prior to his current position with Bank of Texas Mortgage Group, Al was Branch Mgr. for Ascent Home Loans/Houston and Managing Director for Challenge Financial Investors Corp. (St. Petersburg, FL). Al's expertise also includes business consulting, internet marketing, accounting, training, financial consulting and crisis management.

Organizations
Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce Spring-Klein Chamber of Commerce Houston Northwest Business Networking Group

Publications
Not sure;my stuff is not copyrighted;if you do a search on Google for "Al Rodenburg" and mortgage, you should find over 6,000 listings (some of them should be brief articles I've written or been quoted in)

Education/Credentials
University of Illinois - at Chicago Florida State University Principia College Lake Forest School of Management Roosevelt University

Awards and Honors
Top 20 originator, 2010 - out of 600 originators in company. #1 Originator (out of 500 branches nationwide) in January 2007.

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