A No Non-sense Load Modification Guide That Everyone Needs To Understand

Are you finding that in these tough economic times scraping together the mortgage or bill payments is becoming more than you can handle? Do you see the foreclosures going on all over the country and worry that your house might end up on a list of statistics? You're not alone. Millions of homeowners across America are struggling to stay afloat, and that's why I've written this loan modification guide to help homeowners just like you.

We've all heard the political spin doctors rhetorically warning that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, but the taxpayer sees initiatives like the $750 billion Trouble Assets Relief Program (TARP) and can't help but wonder where all that money has gone. Fortunately, some of it has gone to the right place, and if you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan, the Homeowner Stability Initiative has targeted $75 billion at keeping you in your home. If you don't have a Fannie or Freddie loan, or even if you do, the following steps will help you secure some financial freedom:

Step one is to hire a licensed counselor to look over your loan and see whether or not you qualify for a loan modification. You can find these professionals in the yellow pages or in a number of online directories. Also, you can visit your local Housing and Urban Development office to find a nonprofit organization with a financial counselor who will examine your case for free.

Once you have your financial counselor and you are confident that a loan modification will work for you, the second step is to write your hardship letter. This letter should be professional, grammatical, and logical, and it should explain to your lender why you can't continue to pay. It should also emphasize that even when you couldn't pay, you continued to work hard and earn money. It is important to convince your lender that you're worthy of a second chance.

You will need to provide a history of financial documents showing why you have become delinquent on your loan. The lender will want to know that it's not careless spending and extravagance that led to your circumstances. By the time the lender has finished looking through your package, it should be clear that you made every effort to pay the loan, but simply didn't have enough money.

Lastly, considering the circumstances of your delinquency, you could even be eligible for more assistance. The Making Home Affordable plan specifically targets people who have been making their payments but fell behind because of job loss or interest increase. Recent estimates state that roughly 7-9 million Americans could benefit from the Making Home Affordable plan and reduce their monthly payments to a mere 31% of gross monthly income.

This program was started in early March and will run nearly to the end of the President's first term. What this plan won't do is put money directly in your pocket in the form of cash. What this plan will do is help make your payments more reasonable, more affordable, and best of all, adjusted to your income.