LAW REVIEW ARTICLE

You may have a number of questions regarding loan modifications and how they can help you avoid foreclosure.  Loan modifications have been all over the news lately.  President Obama has passed major, historic legislation giving homeowners more access to loan modifications; the California legislature has also passed legislation promoting loan modifications.Here are some questions and some answers for loan modifications:Q: What is a loan modification?A: A loan modification is an agreement between a lender and a borrower to change the original terms of a loan in order to make payments more affordable.  For homeowners, a California loan modification could be a way to stay in their home.

  A loan modification attorney can be a major asset when trying to get a loan modification.Q: How can a loan modification be accomplished? Read the rest of this entry »

Feldman Law Center – A recent New York Times editorial indicates that the Obama honeymoon may be coming to end as the faltering economy continues to eliminate jobs and a tidal wave of foreclosures grows by the month. Through May foreclosure filings reached the one million mark with estimates for the whole of 2009 coming in at 2.4 million. The foreclosure issue, as large as it is presently, could easily exceed the current yearend estimates if job losses stay at their current pace of over 600,000 per month. As it stands, 15.4 homes are currently underwater with mortgage balances that exceed home values. Additionally, 5.4 million homes are currently delinquent or at some stage of the foreclosure process. Read the rest of this entry »

When people hear about loan modifications, they learn that one of the most common ways to lower your monthly mortgage payments is to adjust your interest rate.  For example, if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, you could get your interest rate lowered for some period of time.  You could also switch from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage, and this way not only would your mortgage payment be cheaper, but you could know what it will be over the long haul.The challenge is, adjusting your interest rate, or setting your interest rate permanently may not be your best option.  It may seem simple, but you could have other choices available to you that you are not aware of.  One of the benefits of having a loan modification attorney working with you is that they may be aware of options you are not aware of.For example, a loan modification does not necessarily have to involve an interest rate adjustment.  Other loan modification options involve principal reductions and lengthening the term of your loan.  If you get a principal reduction, it could mean that a loan for $500,000 could be lowered to $380,000, which would obviously have a huge impact on your monthly mortgage payments.  You could also get the term lengthened, and go from a 30 year mortgage to a 40 year mortgage.  An extra ten years would give you an extra 120 months to spread out your payments, which would also lower your monthly mortgage payments.Interest rates were at an all time low in December, and stayed there for quite a while.  However, theyâ??ve gone up and down and recently have reached their highest point in quite a while.  This sort of uncertainty is not beneficial to your current situation, especially if youâ??re facing foreclosure.  The federal government has instituted many plans to lower interest rates, including using $600 billion to get more buyers into the market in hopes of stabilizing home prices and reviving the economy.  However, the federal governmentâ??s effectiveness has gone up and down.Loan modification attorneys can be a trusted ally in the battle to keep your home.  A California loan modification attorney can give you the lowdown on your situation, as well as the many options available to you.  While getting an altered interest rate may be to your benefit, it could also be that other options work better for your situation.  Lowering your principal balance could be an option, and it would also be a great long term solution.  Changing the length of the loan could also be a great long term option, and both of these would lower your monthly payments.If you are facing a foreclosure, or if you are facing some other type of financial crisis, a loan modification could be your best option.  These days, almost everyone is watching the economy, waiting for their own situation to worsen.  Unfortunately, these are tough times, but a loan modification attorney could help out quite a bit.Visit us at feldmanlawcenter.com or call 800-588-0425.