The Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP also demands homeowners to provide an initial package of documentation and requires lenders to review the documentation before the first phase of the modification.

The change in the program will take effect on June 1, 2010 and is designed to speed up the process of getting mortgage modifications that homeowners can afford.  Although a mortgage modification will definitely stain a homeowner’s credit history, it is a better option than undergoing a foreclosure process.  A mortgage modification will happen when the lender agrees to change the terms of an existing home loan like…

The unstable market conditions and high rate of unemployment are making it hard for homeowners to pay their mortgages that could lead to a foreclosure.  Here are some options to prevent foreclosure if you’re having trouble paying your home loan.

1. If you receive a notice from your lender that puts your property in a position that is highly exposed to foreclosure, immediately contact your lender.  You can explain to them the reasons why you’re having a hard time paying the mortgage.  You can reach an agreement with your lender to help you buy some time and find a solution for…

If you’re behind schedule in making your mortgage payments, you can avoid a possible foreclosure by getting the help of a foreclosure specialist.  A foreclosure specialist is a person who specializes in helping homeowners save their homes from foreclosures.  Because every foreclosure situation is unique, a specialist will provide the right advice and suggest the appropriate solutions or strategies.  Some specialist can also negotiate directly with the lender in behalf of the homeowner.

Because many homeowners are facing foreclosures, it is wise to get an experienced specialist to help you come up with the right strategies to save your home.  In…

There are many stages that happen to a home during a foreclosure process.  Here are the 4 stages of a foreclosure:

1. Pre-foreclosure.  The homeowner gets notified by the bank if they fail to make the monthly mortgage payments for more than two times.  This notice is called the Notice of Default that clearly means your house is in trouble unless you play your part to maintain the ownership of your house.
2. Foreclosure.  You will be issued a Notice of Trustee Sale.  The homeowner and the general public will be informed that the house is undergoing foreclosure and will be offered…

The Home Affordable Modification Program that is supposed to help three to four million homeowners from possible foreclosures was only able to address 116,000 permanent loan modifications.  Sixty thousand borrowers who entered trial payment plans have also failed or rejected for a number of reasons.

Here is a list of HAMP complications and why it is failing to address the housing problems:

* The original design of the program allowed homeowners to request a 3 month trial modification with little documentation of their situation.  Although some were able to get through the trial program, some weren’t able to satisfy the program requirements…

The status of the housing market constantly changes every week.  According to Standard & Poor’s Case Schiller index, last weeks quarterly home prices gradually improved on a national basis and are a lot better in metropolitan markets.  The index also showed an increase by three tenths of a percent in 20 cities and 15 of the cities showed a positive price appreciation last quarter.

Here are other increases measures in the largest urban markets: 5% gain year over year for prices in San Francisco, 3% for the year in Dallas and San Diego, plus higher than average jumps in metropolitan Washington…

Homeowners who are facing problems with their mortgage payments decide to short sell their home to avoid facing foreclosure and its process.  Even if you avoid the process of foreclosure, doing a short sale can also affect the rating of your credit.

Although the credit rating for a foreclosure will decrease by 200 to 300 points, a short sale will also damage your credit score by 75 to 125 points.  It will also take tree years to qualify for another home loan compared to a short sale that will help you get a loan in about a year and a half.

The…