Here's the reality from someone in the trenches every day as an investor and owner of a loan mod company doing residential and commercial loan mods, and as someone who had their business wiped out by hurricane Katrina and had to do my own loan mods to save us from losing everything.
The government solution (cash for clunkers, bailouts, healthcare, etc) is not the solution everyone thinks it is. If you go on makinghomeaffordable.gov you will see the slogan "..don't pay, walk away..." and that the implication is that private mod firms are all crooks.
The reality is that private mod firms are getting modifications done every day where non-profits (ACORN, etc) have failed and the guidelines from the Obama plan exclude many homeowners who either don't qualify or the lender isn't participating. The program is voluntary, not mandatory.
In the words of the asst. Treasury Secretary on the success of the Obama housing plan "...we're disappointed in the results..." yet the government and media (who is in their pocket) tell you to say away from loan mod scams and rarely if ever put out a balanced piece on loan mods.
It's usually a hit piece, like the one sitting on my desk in the Baltimore Sun from last week titled "Avoiding Schemes that prey on desperate homeowners" Again the article if full of half truths.
The cable tv pundits (Orman, and others on both liberal and conservative channels) tell you don't pay for a loan mod, yiou can do it yourself, etc. The problem is they aren't in your shoes and make it sound so easy.
Yet these same channels (I've seen it on most of them) will take advertising money from the same loan mod companies that are villified by their star pundits. Do the math on that one.
Also to explain how the Washington game works, you need to understand the politicians are balancing preventing blood in the streets, when the masses are living out of tents with the special interests (banking lobby) who is lining their pockets.
Just google Dodd, Frank and others and follow the campaign $$ that flowed to them. I'm not just ranting, this is real live information that people need to understand if they think the government solution is going to save them.
With all that said, a reputable mod firm will tell you up front if they can help, won't take your money if they can't and will offer some guarantee on results. Ask a non-profit how much they are reimbursed by the government (your tax dollars) and then ask them if there is any guarantee on results.
I phoned over 100 non-profits with the same questions you would put to a private mod firm and not one would commit to any statistics other than their sucess rate is good, fair, etc. These subjective numbers from firms getting government money should demonstrate once again government is not the solution.
Your best bet is to play hard ball if your servicer/ lender won't modify. Chances are there are probably RESPA, TILA, HOEPA, or other violations that a mortgage audit would identify that would pressure the lender to modify or face a claim against them.
I can't go into all the options here but in addition to doing mods, we are doing administrative remedies on 5 mortgages personally and all 5 lenders are in default and we are pursuing claims against all 5 of them. This is not for the fain of heart and you need to commit to educating yourself.
Bottom line is it's up to you to hold the lender accountable. You do that by educating yourself. Last important point. No lender can foreclose without the original "wet ink" signature note in their possession, yet they do this every day in courts across America with no "standing".
Google, "boyko decision, credit river decision, foreclosing without the note", and other phrases and learn how the banks are committing fraud every day. This is just a start, but learn you are dealing with a large corrupt machine and it's up to you to learn solve your problem.
I can share more personally, so feel free to contact me. Hope that helps give the big picture.
