Can’t Get a Mortgage Workout, Call Mortgage Insurance Company
One of the biggest complaints by borrowers facing difficulty in paying their mortgage is that the lending companies are unresponsive. There is no on who can give a good answer on potential mortgage workouts.
But there is a trick if you avoided the 80–20 loans and got mortgage insurance. Call the mortgage insurance company that you are paying your premium to, odds are it is in your mortgage paperwork. The insurer has a stake in the game because if you go into foreclosure they are on the hook for the loan.
As they say in the South, the mortgage insurer has a dog in the fight.
And odds are the mortgage insurance company can contact someone in the lender’s office much quicker than you can. So if you have mortgage insurance and are in a difficult place, can your insurer. Odds are they will be able to expedite the process much faster than you can on your own.
One company, PMI of Walnut Creek, Calif., has gone so far as to actually place some of its own employees in the offices of giant lenders such as Washington Mutual and Countrywide. These workers are “are authorized to make decisions on the loan modifications on-site in an effort to eliminate log jams and take a bit of the overwhelming load off of the lenders,” according to a spokesman.
In one instance, according to the spokesman, an insured turned in all the paperwork to modify his loan, but the lender rejected it, saying his documents were insufficient. PMI sent one of its employees to the lender to look through the file and found that the borrower was missing a single pay stub. It secured the missing paperwork for the lender, which then proceeded with modifying the customer’s loan so he could afford the payments. via MarketWatch



Comment by Paula Henry on 10 November 2008:
Tom – Thanks for the insight. I have a few clients who may be able to get a workout, but have been unsuccessful in reaching the lender. A few have told me their lender says they know nothing about a workout or Help 4 Homeowners programs.