Loan Modification ebooks: A waste of money?
Believe it or not, Loan Modifications may still be in it’s infant stage. Most banks have only just started doing loan modifications back in 2006 or 2007 and some as recent as 2008 or 2009. Since then, guidelines for loan modifications have morphed tremendously and almost on a monthly basis. Banks are now closely scrutinizing everything you send them; pay stubs, bank statements, rental agreements, award letters, credit report expenses, savings, hardship letter and everything you decide to send them. The process isn’t as cut and dry as it was once was. So, will an ebook provide you with enough information to get your loan modified. It’s hard to say. So, I bought a few ebooks online and here is what I found:
I read the bio on the authors of these ebooks. These authors consists of mortgage brokers, homeowners who claim to have done the loan modification themselves, or individuals who worked for the bank. I have an issue with all of the above.
Let’s first talk about the author that has a broker license. A mortgage broker may be very familiar with qualifying you for a new loan. But, how would they know anything about loan modifications? When qualifying for a new loan, there are guidelines set that applies towards a very wide range of qualified candidates. Here’s an example of a guideline for refinancing into a 30 year fixed loan: Qualified individuals must have a minimum credit score of 700, must have a Loan to Value of 80%, must have 6 month of cash reserves in the bank and a debt to income of 55% or better. That scenario may actually cover a pretty wide range of borrowers. On the other hand, a loan modification is based on the individuals circumstances and banks will make a determination on what the homeowner is eligible for on a case by case basis. For example, just because you and your next door neighbor has the same house configuration, same type of loan, the same balance, same lender, same credit score, and the same expenses, this does not mean both of you will be qualified for the same loan modification terms. Each homeowner could be approved for an entirely different type of loan modification. How can a mortgage broker cover this in an ebook? And, how can his ebook provide each individuals step by step process to get their loan modified?
Now, let’s talk about the author that was successful in getting his own loan modified. That’s great that he was able to do this. But, this particular author’s scenario may have fallen within the exact guidelines for a decent loan modification. Although, that’s good for him, as previously mentioned above, banks are determining the terms of a loan modification on a case by case basis. This author is writing his ebook based on his own scenario and experience. That’s like an owner of a motorcycle buying a “how to” book for a truck. It may make some sense but, it’s not going to get the job done.
What about an ebook written by a former employee of a bank? You’re probably thinking, you can’t go wrong with this book. Actually, working for the bank doesn’t mean they were an underwriter or negotiator in the modification department. Banks are very departmentalized and no two department are that much alike. You can ask anyone that have tried to get a loan modification on their own. Simply call the bank and you will either speak to a representatives in the customer service department, collection department, loss mitigation department and if you are lucky you may be able to speak to the negotiator/underwriter in the loan modification department. The one thing you can be sure of is that no two department knows what the other is doing. So, if the author of the ebook is a former employee of the bank, that’s probably his pitch to sell his book. If you purchased an ebook that helped, please let me know. I’m curious to see if the information is up to date and general enough to help the masses.
The biggest issue I have with these loan modification ebooks is the fact that about 20% of the book contains somewhat useful information about getting a loan modification. The other 80% contains fluff. Meaning, information use to fill the pages. I was able to find 80% of the fluff online relatively easily. This info included a glossary of loan terms, some general application forms, and a list of fax & phone numbers to many popular banks.
Most of these authors try to add value to their ebooks by offering additional information for “Free” like debt consolidation and settlement. I don’t know about you, but, I want as much useful information I can get on loan modification. Debt consolidation can wait.
You also want to keep in mind that loan modifications are ever evolving. A book that was written 6 months ago or before, may not apply towards loan modifications today. However, I do feel that loan modification ebooks can give you some what of a head start in familiarizing yourself with the process and also give you some idea of what the bank is looking for. But, I don’t see how these ebooks can help the masses in obtaining an affordable loan modification from the bank.
If you have any questions or comments, please share…
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