There have been countless changes in the loan modification industry since in began en force circa 2007. Most importantly was the systematic weeding out of fraudulent service providers who set up shop to take advantage of distressed homeowners by charging a fee up front an never doing any work. I’ll say this now and repeat it again as it’s the single most important bit of information you should know when seeking a loan modification: NEVER PAY UP FRONT FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION!Who can negotiate a loan modification?

You – that’s right. Although it can be to your benefit to have a professional help you through the process, there is nothing preventing you from attempting a loan modification on your own.
Foreclosure Consultant – These individuals are typically non licensed professionals and can either be for profit or non-profit companies. After July 1, 2009 in the state of California, all foreclosure consultants must be registered with the Attorney General’s office and post a bond in the amount of $100,000 (California Civil Code section 2945.45).
Attorney – Any attorney licensed in the state where your pending foreclosure is located. You can find all registered attorney’s by searching martindale.com
Real Estate Broker or Agent – The most common source for advice and help negotiating a loan modification or short sale. Although not all real estate agents have the experience to qualify as experts in the field, they are allowed to help if they hold a current real estate license. You may find out if your agent or broker is licensed at the California Department of Real Estate website dre.ca.gov
Protect yourself from loan modification scams. How to spot foreclosure fraud.In case you didn’t catch this in the first paragraph, NEVER PAY UP FRONT FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION! In California this practice is illegal. It’s also important to remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Just like a stated income loan with a “starting” interest rate that is unexpectedly low, a loan mod with terms that don’t pass the sniff test are also unlikely to prove true.I’ve listed below some of the more common loan modification scams for you to review and catalog:

I’ll again start with the loan modification counselor who asks you to pay a fee BEFORE you’ve successfully obtained a PERMANENT loan modification. I’ll say it again, NEVER PAY UP FRONT FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION!
The foreclosure consultant who tells you to make your monthly payments to him/her rather than your bank during the loan modification process. This should never happen.
The consultant who poses as a government affiliated entity. Often using names that sound like they are government related and asking you to pay them up front to qualify for one of the special government related programs like HAMP or HAFA. These groups will suggest that their company is directly linked to the program and they charge you to confirm you are eligible. Your lender will tell you if you are eligible for HAMP free of charge. You may also see the HAMP waterfall below.
Bait and switch “rescue loans.” It is imperative that everyone read and fully understand what they are signing. Bait and switch rescue loans will ask the homeowner to sign over title to their house to a third party in exchange for a new modified loan with a lower loan balance. Again, if it sounds too good to be true…
Rent to Own and leaseback schemes. Be aware of who you are dealing with and take care not sign over title to persons or companies who ask you to sign over title promising to sell the property back to you once the process is complete. These schemes may also include asking the homeowner to move out during the process, allowing the “consultant” to collect rent until the house ultimately goes to foreclosure sale. In this case the consultant never completes the modification, rather, they just postpone the foreclosure allowing them to collect rent for a longer period.
A late add to this list, from the CA Attorney General press release, beware of forensic loan audits. In this scenario the consulting company uses the forensic loan audit as a means of getting the homeowner to pay up front for the tools needed to complete their modification; in this case a forensic loan audit. Once the fee is paid, no work is done and the loan modification never happens.
What to be aware of going in. What are your chances of success?The foreclosure process is stressful and often times overwhelming. In many cases home-owner’s are willing to suspend reality, try anything and trust anyone who promises to allow them to stay in their home. Fueling additional confusion in the loan modification process is the fact that many defaulting homeowners used stated income loans to refinance or make their purchase. Every homeowner should know before going into the loan modification process that you must have income to qualify for a loan modification.This is worth repeating: If you cannot document income sufficient to pay your mortgage (that is a new lower mortgage payment), you will not get a loan modification! Further, although the bank may have taken your word for it when you qualified to take out the loan, they will require you document and will definitely confirm your income before agreeing to modify your loan. Generally speaking the goal of a loan modification is to lower your monthly payments to an amount equal to 31% of your current gross income.Banks also require you have a hardship before seeking a modification. Examples of generally accepted hardships are divorce, death of an income provider, loss of job or income, forced relocation for a job, or pending interest rate increase. They are not going to modify your loan because you’d like to refinance, if your current income supports the monthly payment.Next, the banks expect you to spend your savings before they consider modifying your loan. Two things to note here; first some of your retirement accounts are off limits thanks to the ERISA laws, meaning the banks cannot go after or require you to liquidate them in order to make mortgage payments. Second, it is generally accepted that the banks will expect a home owner to have less than two and one half times their current monthly payment before they modify a loan. For example, if your monthly mortgage payment was $100 and you had $250 in your savings account (2 1/2 times your payment), the bank would expect you to use that money before they modify your loan.One final note on this subject, think twice about applying for a loan modification simply to postpone a foreclosure or short sale. Almost anyone can get a temporary modification through their bank. The suggested reasoning here is that the bank is attempting to collect a bad debt, in order to evaluate their ability to collect banks will attempt to gather any and all financial information you provide to later collect on that bad debt. If you are falsely or hopelessly building a case for a modification by showing income and assets, that information may ultimately prove detrimental to your short sale negotiations.The unsolicited loan modification from JP Morgan ChaseA few things in history have reached mythical status; the Fountain of Youth, the contents of Al Capone’s vault. Our current depressed housing market has the unsolicited loan modification from Chase / WAMU. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you it does exist. Accompanied by a letter from Steve Stein, head of the Chase Homeowner Assistance Department (I couldn’t find a link to the department on the Chase website, however the phone number listed is: (888) 368-5524) the offer was received and accepted by one of my clients in Southern California.According to the Chase documents, her “loan is eligible for (the) special program developed as part of Chase’s announced effort to preserve home-ownership in America.” According to my client, she never contacted Chase requesting a loan mod, nor had she ever missed or been late on any of her mortgage payments.In reviewing the offer with her, I noted she was more than 100% underwater on her loan (previous balance approximately $600,000, estimated fair market value less than $300,000) and her interest rate was going to reset the following month. This is also an owner occupied property on a stated income, option arm, variable rate loan. The Chase modification set her interest rate to a fixed 5% for the life of the loan, reset the amortization period at 30 years from the modification date, and wait for it…. reduced her principal balance by approximately $250,000.My point in bringing this to everyone’s attention is three fold: First, pay attention to the letters and phone call offers sent to you by your current lender, although most are just collection calls, some lenders are proactively attempting to help homeowners modify their loans. Second, I’ve received several phone calls from clients regarding similar offers yet found very little information on such offers over the Internet or from any other sources. I wanted to share a story of success to inform you all that these possibilities do exist.Finally, I wanted to stress the importance of principal reductions as a solution to the current housing crisis (just in case any influential bankers or politicians are reading). In the example above, my client is in her early sixties, educated, has perfect credit, and was fully aware of the current market value of her home. Like many homeowners in similar situations she is responsible and proud of her attention to financial obligations. As such, she was reluctant to ask for help while she could still pay, and felt morally opposed to a strategic default.After the process was complete she shared the fear and and anxiety that accompanied two years of waiting for her payment to increase, realizing she had no hope of refinancing into a fixed rate loan, and knowing she couldn’t sell or find another property to purchase. Her loan modification took one hour to review with an attorney, fifteen minutes to complete the paperwork that was enclosed in the packet sent by Chase, and was processed and completed before her next payment was due 15 days after she received it.Finding the Greater GoodIt seems to me there are two ways to address an obstacle. One is to brace yourself and move to minimize the negative impact you may individually encounter; the other is to proactively seek solutions for removing the obstacle and move to the collective good. In fact anyone who’s seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, realizes that John Nash won a Nobel Prize for his game theory suggesting that such strategies lead to the best possible outcome.Like millions of Americans currently underwater on their home, my client was reluctant to address the problem until it was immediate and one she had little chance of resolving. Banks must minimize losses and increase revenue. While Chase and other institutions grow their loss mitigation and REO departments by the thousands to manage short sales, foreclosures and a deluge loan modifications that may not work, it took one form letter by certified mail to complete a loan modification that required no documentation of income, no explanation of hardship and required no back and forth negotiations. President Obama and our current political administration are determined to help homeowners stay put, while preventing fraud, putting predatory foreclosure scams out of business, and finding an expeditious end to the housing slump. This was accomplished overnight for one customer by Chase’s proactive response to the obstacle before them and a mutually beneficial strategy benefiting the greater good.This modification would not have been possible without reducing principal. By doing so the bank minimized their loss and positioned a loan for greater chances of repayment, further they avoided one more foreclosure mitigating the negative impact on the neighborhood and their loan portfolio – a positive move for the overall housing crisis.Like any financial matter, a loan modification should not be taken lightly and the prospects of success should be considered before you start. Banks are debt collectors and they will use the information you provide in order to collect that debt. If you provide false information to present an ability to pay which you don’t really possess it will work against you if you later decide to pursue a short sale. And finally, one last time, NEVER PAY UP FRONT FOR A LOAN MODIFICATION!

While yes, our team is born in a world of intense high athletic goals such as bodybuilding, it is not our goal to support people to become bodybuilders – FAR FROM IT!;-) So you can relax now!! But it IS our goal to share with you why the lessons from our experience of mastering human health & the body, & how developing a bodybuilder “mentality” for your own life can literally skyrocket you into a level of personal health you never thought possible, while showing you the shortcuts in how to get there! Sound good? Heck, it sounds GREAT to us, because we already know how it can CHANGE YOUR LIFE.If you are serious about stepping into your greatness of feeling & looking great, take 3 minutes & glean our insight, because this is the single-most MISSING LINK that we see people repeatedly leaving out of their game plan to great health & why they continue to fail at achieving quality health for their lives.When you have had an experience of taking your mental, emotional & physical self to the level that bodybuilding competition requires, as a coach for others it then allows you to see potential for your clients that they could never envision for themselves without you by their side AND TAKE THEM THERE, and that is the beauty of the gift that we REJOICE in offering others in order to achieve optimal health, energy, & joy for their lives. But to get there…to create a successful transformation of your health & body, you HAVE to begin INSIDE with our 5 MUST-HAVE Steps! Yes, that’s right – the focus begins in the MIND. Time & again we see this process work, and it’s our UNIQUE coaching psychology method that sets us apart, & why we are capable of producing jaw-dropping results with the level of motivational mentality we provide. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you fail to develop the DESIRE & MINDSET to IMPLEMENT it, you will never succeed.Want the insider view to our winning approach to learn how to transform your own health & body? We’re here to offer you the scoop because it’s our desire to support you fully to achieve authentic, preventative health from the inside, out in your lifetime. So where do we begin? There is a prolific spiritual author named John Maxwell, maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe you haven’t – but he writes of numerous spiritual topics & speaks on how we create TRUE transformation for our lives. Below we adapt his words for our article today because it’s a brilliant synopsis of just why & how we work with clients to coach them through mastering their personal health, as there are so many levels to the process.When we discuss transformation of the physical body, to be successful we cannot deny that mind, body & spirit are woven tightly together in our being & therefore EACH needs to be considered – not just one. Often people when wanting to conquer health or healing goals immediately BEGIN at the physical, they think weight loss, nutrition, exercise…but that is their first step to failure because they’re joining the race before they’ve even laced their shoes!! When we fail to address mind & spirit in the health process we eventually lose the vision of why we’re addressing the physical in the first place & sadly fall off course when interest wanes, times get tough, or we lose our way because the how-to’s become unclear or appear out of reach. But if we start INSIDE & work OUTWARDS friends, GAME ON!!Our 5 Expert Insider Steps to Transforming Your Health & BodySo these 5 KEY STEPS must be addressed in order to achieve a complete & SUCCESSFUL health & body transformation, and they must also be achieved in order as follows…1. When you change your (health & body) thinking, you change your (health & body) beliefs.If you think what you’ve been taught is healthy by the mainstream media is where your learning stops, then don’t expect to achieve great illness-free, authentic preventative health because they don’t teach proactive health approach, they teach reactive wait til you get sick & then act health approach. Begin to change your thinking to change your belief system about your body and health potential.2. When you change your (health & body) beliefs, you change your (health & body) expectations.Once you begin to expand your thinking, start to also seek out experts in areas of health & body who have shown & continue to show PROVEN ABILITY TO CREATE TRANSFORMATION RESULTS in their own health & body that you would like to emulate. Begin to sponge knowledge from them vs. what mainstream media claims leads to great health results, & you’ll in turn raise the bar on what you expect from your own health. You’ll see your new mentor/s are just ordinary people too like you, who decided to blaze their own health path about the quality of health they wanted to achieve for their life by taking the road less followed for their own health in life, and YOU CAN TOO – if you follow in their footprints.3. When you change your (health & body) expectations, you change your (health & body) attitude.Once your mind becomes opened by experts to your new health possibilities, you’ll have a renewed attitude & confidence about your abilities & empowerment around your personal health & begin to realize that anything you put your MIND to, your BODY can achieve -with the right tools in your toolbox. And THAT is exciting!4. When you change your (health & body) attitude, you change your (health & body) behavior.Now that you come to the table with a revitalized health attitude of possibilities & an arsenal from your health mentor, your entire being & behavior begins to shift because your mentor connects you with your own personal ability to achieve great results for your health, and as that continues to happen over and over, your self-efficacy GROWS & GROWS around your capabilities to manage your own personal health, as you transition into your own personal mini-health-expert!5. When you change your (health & body) behavior, YOU CHANGE YOUR LIFE.Now that you’ve achieved health & body mastery, you will begin to see an entire energetic, mental & emotional shift in your life that FAR EXCEEDS the physical. Yes, you will look & feel great, but the ways optimal health radiate outwards to all facets of your life will be astounding, as you attain a personal joy in life through health that you’ve never experienced before. No pills, no roller coaster of energy, no food cravings, no more blah approach to life, no more hiding from life within your own body,…you emerge a renewed person, ready to take on your full potential in this life.This list is the perfect example of why health coaching with experienced experts not only WORKS, but offers you AMAZING, permanent results you could never envision or achieve on your own. With the support of your coaches seasoned & proven mentality of success in health & body transformation, you develop a similar mindset, outlook & body of knowledge in order to reach external goals of physical health & body success!

When we have worked for much of our adult lives and invested the fruits of those labours in caring for our children and ensuring their smooth transition into independent living we find ourselves able to invest some of our surplus income in providing savings for our future. Naturally, we want the best return on our investments. As this brief article will exhibit, the issue of cash savings accounts and which one to choose is far from straightforward, particularly during periods of economic downturn where the financial institutions are reluctant to offer anything other that parsimonious rates of interest. The first account that we will look at is the current account.The Current AccountFor reasons that will become clear, the current bank account is not one in which it is not always wise to invest your savings.There are many current accounts that offer 0% interest on monies invested, regardless of the amount in the account. Obviously, being a current account you have unfettered access to your money and all the facilities that come with a current account, such as a cheque book and debit card but a combination of the low (or even non-existent) interest rates available and the fact that your bank is likely to have other savings options that are more beneficial and only marginally less flexible means that you should hesitate before leaving anything other than the bare minimum in a current account.That means you should keep enough to service your monthly needs and ensure that any surplus is paid into a more efficacious savings account.The next account we will look at is only slightly less flexible than a current account but it is almost certain to provide a greater return on your savings. This is the Easy Access Account.The Easy Access AccountAs its name implies, the easy access account offers a straightforward way of accessing your funds as and when you require them. However, there is likely to be a limit on the amount of money that can be withdrawn at any one time. Because the savings institution does not have the advantage of knowing that it will be holding the saver’s money for an extended period of time, as it does with some of the other accounts that we will examine later, the interest rates offered on easy access accounts are likely to be relatively low.However, savers are likely to find that the easy access accounts that provide the most attractive interest rates are those that do not require an office or branch based organisation of the account. Accounts that can be run by telephone or, even more likely to attract generous interest rates, through the internet, cost the savings institutions less to administer and consequently they are willing to provide higher interest returns on savings.Even with that advantage, however, it remains the case that Easy Access accounts are amongst the most unprofitable of savings products presently on the market. For accounts that provide a greater return the savings institutions want some guarantee about the amount and/or the length of the investment.There are several types of accounts that savings institutions offer which provide higher interest returns on savings. These tend to be based upon the saver investing a fixed sum for a set period of time, on a fixed interest period subject to conditions or upon the saver investing a minimum regular amount into the account. The first of these that we will consider comes within the latter category and is most frequently described as a Regular Saver Account.The Regular Saver AccountIn simple terms, the Regular saver account is one into which the saver agrees to invest cash into the account on a periodic basis (conventionally this is monthly). Because the savings institution can rely upon receipt of cash on such a regularHowever, savers are likely to find that the easy access accounts that provide the most attractive interest rates are those that do not require an office or branch based organisation of the account. Accounts that can be run by telephone or, even more likely to Regular Saver Account rewards investors who are prepared to pay an amount of money on a periodic basis (usually one month) into their savings account. Because the savings institution is able to operate on the basis that a fixed sum will be received it can provide what are, on occasion, some extremely attractive interest rates. However, there are certain conditions that apply to these accounts. Firstly, because the interest rates offered can be so attractive, there will be an upper limit on the amount that can be invested. If that upper limit is breached, it is likely that there will be interest penalties imposed, resulting in a much reduced interest return.Equally, it is likely that there will be a limit on the number of withdrawals that the saver is permitted to make in a year. Once again, transgression against that condition is likely to result in penalties against the saver’s interest return. Nevertheless, for savers making only relatively small investments, who are able to see their cash tied up for a period, the Easy Saver can be a profitable option. The next type of savings account that we will consider is one where the rate of interest is higher than the standard current account or easy access account but where there are additional conditions affecting your access to your money. This is the Notice Account.The Notice AccountIn basic terms, the notice savings account is one where the saving institution offers a higher rate of interest in return for a condition on the account that requires the saver to give a minimum period of notice before making any withdrawal from the account.The notice account is not appropriate if there is a possibility that you will require all or part of the funds urgently, or at least within the notice period applicable to the account. However, if you are able to have your cash tied up for the minimum notice period you can benefit from some enhanced interest rates.It should be said that savers can still obtain access to their funds within the notice period if they urgently require them. However, in such circumstances the saving institution is likely to levy some quite Draconian charges.There is a further variation on the type of account where the saver may have to commit to keeping his cash in the account. Other such accounts do not place such stringent requirements. The type of account that we will now consider is the Fixed Rate Savings Account.The Fixed Rate AccountWith a fixed rate savings account, the savings institution offers the saver a rate on his savings that will be fixed for a given period. This type of account is particularly useful when interests rates are likely to fall. Conversely, if interests rates rise, the account may well result in less of a profit that a variable rate savings account, such as a notice account, particularly if there are prohibitions against withdrawal for the account. Some advantageous interests rates can be found with these accounts, particularly those requiring that the funds remain in the account. Larger investments usually receive higher interest rates and the maximum investment can be relatively large. Interest can be taken monthly and this is not counted as a withdrawal from the account.The interest is normally paid through a bank transfer to the savers current account either with the same savings institution or by direct debit to an outside account.If you are able to invest a large sum into a savings account and are confident that interest rates are not likely to rise a fixed rate savings account would be appropriate for you, especially if it had no penalties against withdrawal in the event that interest rates were to take you by surprise.We will now look at another means of saving, which can be either at a variable interest rate or a fixed term but which provides the extremely useful benefit of producing a tax free return. This is the ISA, or Individual Savings Account.The Cash ISAAn individual savings account, The Cash ISA allows savers to pay a certain amount in each tax year, the interest upon which will not attract any UK tax. Although the interest rats are not likely to be as high as notice accounts or fixed rate accounts or fixed rate bonds, which we will discuss below, the fact that the rates are both gross and net on income tax boosts them by 20% for the basic rate taxpayer and by 40% or 50% for the higher rate taxpayer.Cash ISAs are therefore extremely beneficial to those with significant income and of some use to those on basic rate tax. For those with only a modest income, it is worth shopping around to ascertain whether a better return, even if this is taxable, could be obtained through a regular saver account, for example. It is likely that the saver will be able to invest more in a regular saver account in a year than into an ISA, the limit upon which is presently £5,100.As mentioned above, ISAs can attract either fixed rate or variable rate interest.It should also be stated that Equity ISAs are also available but these go beyond the scope of this article and will feature elsewhere at some stage.There is one product in the cash savings marketplace that is likely to offer the highest return on your investment. It can mean that your money is tied up for lengthy periods. It may even mean that you have no access to your interest other than on an annual basis but it remains a useful savings account for many savers. It is the fixed rate bond.Fixed Rate Bonds A fixed rate bond has many similarities with a fixed rate savings account but there are certain significant differences. Firstly, the term of a fixed rate bond can be significantly longer than for a fixed rate savings account. Many savings institutions offer bonds ranging from around twelve months right up to five years. The returns that are offered on the lengthier bonds are higher than for the shorter term bonds. The interest rates offered are frequently tiered, according to the amount of the investment and there is often a complete prohibition on either adding to or subtracting from the bond during the term. If there is not a total prohibition on withdrawing capital there is likely to be a very severe penalty in terms of days of interest loss.Certain bonds provide for the payment of interest on an annual basis whereas some pay interest only at then end of the term. There are some that provide interest on a monthly basis but this normally involves a modest reduction in the interest rate on offer.Savers should be wary of entering into lengthy bonds if they may need to withdraw their funds or if interest rates look set to rise during the lifetime of the bond. Otherwise, they represent a certain income on savings for the future that is not dependent upon the vagaries of interest rate fluctuations.ConclusionThe credit crunch an the ensuing recession has meant that savers have been squeezed to the extent that certain accounts now produce little if any return on cash savings. At the same time, inflation is running higher than their investments can keep abreast with, resulting in an overall deficit. However, it still pays to shop around, which includes leaving your existing savings institution to find the best deal available to you. Check the comparison sites for the best savings rates that you can obtain. Bear in mind particularly that if a new savings institution is offering you a better return than your existing one you owe no debt of loyalty.Take the best deal that you can find according to your own particular circumstances and always consider obtaining independent professional advice before making any investment, particularly a substantial one.And always remember that the maximum protection that you are likely to receive for your savings is £50,000 per savings institution that you are investing with. Although higher rates are offered for substantial investment, it may give you peace of mind to play safe and keep your savings with each individual institution within that limit.