Pat Weiland has diabetes, high cholesterol, and an adjustable rate mortgage that she has "tried for months" to get modified. Without a lower rate, she says there isn't enough money to buy all the medication she needs, so she is "going without." Something her doctor says is very dangerous.
"The doctor yells at me all the time, ‘you're going to lose your kidneys, you're going to lose your eyesight, you're going to have a heart attack'," said Pat.
Pat and her husband Jim have that adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM, through American Home Mortgage. Their rate can go as high as 14 percent, though, right not it is at nine percent. Every month they scrape together the money to pay on time. Every week, they call to check on the mortgage modification application they made back in October, but they get nowhere.
"When we call, our calls are sent to India," said Pat. They're not sent here to the United States. We talk to a different person every time, so you have to give the same information time and time again, and it gets so frustrating."
Jim says he knows the picture that's usually painted of homeowners in dire financial straits; that these people who bought big houses they couldn't afford. However, Jim and Pat's place is far from a palace; it's a modest 960 square foot house.
"We definitely could have gotten into a much larger home but I wanted to stay conservative so it wouldn't affect our quality of life, so we could afford to do other things, but the mortgage situation, with the flexible interest rate, when we have extra money to improve our quality of life, it goes to the mortgage company," said Jim.
Pat and Jim are in good company. A recent Harris poll found nearly one in four American homeowners is having a hard time paying their mortgage. That is 32 million people. Seven percent of homeowners say they're having "a great deal of difficulty." What makes this even harder; one in five homeowners is now underwater, meaning they owe more on their home that it's actually worth.
That is where Pat and Jim are. They had their home appraised in a failed refinancing effort a few years ago, and the appraisal came back nearly $30,000 lower than the amount of their loan.
Meanwhile, they're on time every month, but it doesn't seem to help their cause. In fact, they wonder if that hurts them. "It's like we're sitting on the back burner because someone else is not making their payments, and so they're being pushed ahead."
Simply Money Mortgage expert Britt Scearce says there isn't as much incentive for a lender to help a homeowner who is able to make the payments, even if it means making some very difficult choices. "Pat and Jim keep calling and they keep saying, ‘Just keep making your payments!' I don't want to say that nothing is happening, but just in case, you may be wanting to pursue some of these other options," said Scearce.
He says when lenders drag their feet on an in-house modification, as Pat and Jim say their lender has, there are other programs that can help.
"I would recommend that they explore the "Hardest Hit Funds"," said Scearce. "There were 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that were designated the "hardest hit" states. There are funds available to help them in this situation if they've had hardships with mortgages."
Through those programs, distressed homeowners can apply for as much as $15,000 in assistance; money they can use to reduce their loan's principal. For most homeowners, the Feds "Making Home Affordable" program is a good place to start. The Feds provide financial incentives to lenders to participate, but know going in that it likely won't be easy or fast.
The program was designed to serve as many as 3 million distressed homeowners, but has so far only helped 700,000. Scearce says it can take as long as six months to get the help you need. "What happens is, by the time they're getting close to making a decision for you, all of the documentation you originally send them is outdated, so they need new pay stubs, they need new bank statements."
The Weiland's admit, they didn't realize they had agreed to an adjustable rate mortgage, their closing was quick, they didn't absorb all the details and they were really excited about getting a house. Now, Pat is worried about losing her job; her employer says layoffs are coming. She wonders how much longer they can go on like this. "It's just.. I'm trying to be a good person, I'm trying to do what I'm supposed to do, but when everybody's throwing things at you, you don't know which way to go," said Pat.
There is now a positive update to share. After we interviewed the Weiland's, we called American Home Mortgage and asked why the process had stalled. Within a few days, the Weiland's learned they would get a mortgage modification after all; with terms they could afford.
If you need information about programs, see the list of helpful links below.
- Hope Now www.hopenow.com 1-888-995-HOPE(4673)
- Making Home Affordable www.makinghomeaffordable.gov
- The Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati http://www.hometoday.cc/
- Neighborhood Housing Services / Butler and Warren Counties http://butlercounty-nhs.org/
Ohio:
https://www.restoringstability.org/
Kentucky:
(866) 830-7868
www.ProtectMyKYHome.org
Indiana
1-877-GET-HOPE (1-877-438-7673)
www.877gethope.org
Find out if Fannie or Freddie owns your loan…
Fannie Mae www.fanniemae.com
Freddie Mac www.freddiemac.com
Source http://www.fox19.com/
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