GMAC loan workout

[djrobsd]

Ok, so I’ve kinda shared bits and pieces of my story to people on this board, but I thought I’d share the latest in my battle of trying to do anything but throw in the keys….

I contacted GMAC mortgage last week to see if they had any sort of program like Countrywide does to modify the loan to help borrowers keep their homes and avoid foreclosure. My ARM had adjusted from 5.875 to 8.875 last month, and will adjust again probably another half a point in March, depending on where the LIBOR stands at the time.

I spent over an hour on the phone, spoke to 3 different people, and told my entire store to 2 of the 3 people. The 3rd person I talked to was in the “loss mitigation” department, and he tried to convince me that i need to borrow money from friends/family, get a cash advance, get a 2nd job, etc. The usual tactics that collection agents play… After explaining to him that I’ve exhausted all my options including trying to sell the home, and that property values in San Diego are dropping 10% or more, he agreed to send my case over to their loan workout specialist. He said they would contact me within 7 days and gave me a number to call if they didn’t.

Of course, they didn’t call me back, so I called them today. Mysteriously, the lady acted like the guy I spoke with didn’t exist, and that there was no records in her computer of my conversation with him. She then started getting huffy and saying “So what do you want me to do about this?” And I said “Well, I guess if you can’t find it in your computer, then tell me what I need to do to talk to your loan workout specialists to try and modify this loan”.. So then she told me I would need to fill out all this paperwork and fax it back to them… So here it is folks, the GMAC “Package”:

-A cover letter saying “we’re here to help, we’re concerned, blah blah blah”

-4 page worksheet that the borrowoer must fill out

Here’s the worksheet:

Please tell us about your assets and investments:
Checking Balance:
Savings/Money:
Market/CDs:
Stocks/Bonds:
Vested Retirement Balanace:
Other Real Estate Equity:
Other:
Total Assets and Investments:

Total Monthly Net Income (INC$) – Total Monthly Expenses (EXP$) – Monthly Gain/Loss (G/L) –
Income$
Expenses$
Gain/Loss$

Note: If your expenses exceed your income, there may still be hope. Homecomings has

partnered with non profit credit counseling agencies to provide you with ideas related to

personal finance management

** Please indicate an amount for a down payment to reduce your delinquent Balance:
$$$_________

**WHen would these funds be available?

1. What Event has caused your financial hardship (if necessary please attach an additional

sheet)?

2. What was the term of your hardship (when did it begin? Has it ended?)

3. What was the financial impact of your hardship (estimated expense of hardship, income

lost during hardship, etc)?

4. Are you currently employed? Yes/No If you answered yes, how long have you been with your

current employer? Are there any forseeable changes in your employment?

5. How long have you lived at the property? Have you considered selling the property? If

so, please describe why you would want to sell your home. If not, please describe why you

want to keep the property.

6. What actions have you taken thus far to resolve your financial situation (Eg obtained

additional employment, reduced optional monthly household expenses such as cable & Internet

service, etc)

Next page:

In order for us to better understand your circumstances and tailor a CUSTOM solution to meet

your needs, we require information related to your monthly income and expenses. If there

are additional contributors to your household income OR if additional parties are

financially responsible for this debt please include this information below as well.

Please tell us about your monthly household income:

NET INCOME (monthly after taxes and benefits):
Disability:
Rental Income:
Unemployment:
Child Support/Alimony:
Other:
TOTAL NET MONTHLY:

Current Employment Status:

Please tell us about your monthly household expenses

This Mortgage:
Other Mortgages:
Auto Loan Payments:
Auto Expoenses:
Credit Cards/Loan Payment:
Insurance/Medical Exp:
Child Care:
Child Support/Alimony:
Total Utilities:
Groceries/Household supplies:
Spending Money/Charitable contributions
Property Taxes (if not in mortgage)
Insurance (if not in mortgage)

There is also a sidebar:
# autos
estimated balance
maintenance cost
fuel cost
number of credit cards
total balance
life: med: auto: costs

Utilities sidebar:
Water
Gas
Elec
Cable
Cell Phone
Phone
Sewer
Internet

Total Monthly Expenses:

And last but not least, the property worksheet:

Name
Work Phone
Home
Cell
Best time to call

Please check all that apply
( ) I Live in this House
( ) This House is vacant
( ) THis is a second home
( ) This is a rental Property (Monthly rent: _____)

Do you have other loans on this property? YES/NO

Lender
Principal Balance
Monthly Payment Amount
# of Delinquent Payments

Please check all that apply:

( ) This property is for sale (Agent name, phone # and listing price)
( ) I Am considering selling the property (Est value$ _____)
( ) I Am willing to do whatever is necessary to retain ownership of the home
( ) I Need help organizing my finances
TAXES:
( ) I pay my own taxes
( ) Taxes are current: YES/NO
( ) Taxes are included in the mortgage pmt

HOA:
My property has an HOA: YES/NO
Annual HOA Dues are: ___
Are HOA dues current? YES/NO

And of course, they want paycheck stubs, and bank statements…

[nostradamus]

Thanks for posting that, it's very interesting. All the questions on the bank's form are basic questions you should have asked yourself before getting into this loan… Just curious, how would you answer question 1?

What Event has caused your financial hardship (if necessary please attach an additional sheet)?

In other words, what has changed in your financial situation between now and the time you signed the loan docs?

[nostradamus]

Thanks for posting that, it's very interesting. All the questions on the bank's form are basic questions you should have asked yourself before getting into this loan… Just curious, how would you answer question 1?

What Event has caused your financial hardship (if necessary please attach an additional sheet)?

In other words, what has changed in your financial situation between now and the time you signed the loan docs?

[nostradamus]

Thanks for posting that, it's very interesting. All the questions on the bank's form are basic questions you should have asked yourself before getting into this loan… Just curious, how would you answer question 1?

What Event has caused your financial hardship (if necessary please attach an additional sheet)?

In other words, what has changed in your financial situation between now and the time you signed the loan docs?

[nostradamus]

Thanks for posting that, it's very interesting. All the questions on the bank's form are basic questions you should have asked yourself before getting into this loan… Just curious, how would you answer question 1?

What Event has caused your financial hardship (if necessary please attach an additional sheet)?

In other words, what has changed in your financial situation between now and the time you signed the loan docs?

[djrobsd]

My payment has gone up on my 2nd mortgage $300 and now the first mortgage w/ GMAC has gone up $610, my credit card debts have also substantially increased making repairs and improvements to the property, when I purchased the property my credit card payments were $0, and now they are $450 a month! My income has not kept pace with the increased payments.

One could say I don’t know how to manage my money, and I’m sure there are plenty of you who will jump on that, but the truth is at least 75% of that credit card debt was used to improve or repair the property, including a $5000 plumbing disaster that occurred earlier this year.

[djrobsd]

My payment has gone up on my 2nd mortgage $300 and now the first mortgage w/ GMAC has gone up $610, my credit card debts have also substantially increased making repairs and improvements to the property, when I purchased the property my credit card payments were $0, and now they are $450 a month! My income has not kept pace with the increased payments.

One could say I don’t know how to manage my money, and I’m sure there are plenty of you who will jump on that, but the truth is at least 75% of that credit card debt was used to improve or repair the property, including a $5000 plumbing disaster that occurred earlier this year.

[djrobsd]

My payment has gone up on my 2nd mortgage $300 and now the first mortgage w/ GMAC has gone up $610, my credit card debts have also substantially increased making repairs and improvements to the property, when I purchased the property my credit card payments were $0, and now they are $450 a month! My income has not kept pace with the increased payments.

One could say I don’t know how to manage my money, and I’m sure there are plenty of you who will jump on that, but the truth is at least 75% of that credit card debt was used to improve or repair the property, including a $5000 plumbing disaster that occurred earlier this year.

[djrobsd]

My payment has gone up on my 2nd mortgage $300 and now the first mortgage w/ GMAC has gone up $610, my credit card debts have also substantially increased making repairs and improvements to the property, when I purchased the property my credit card payments were $0, and now they are $450 a month! My income has not kept pace with the increased payments.

One could say I don’t know how to manage my money, and I’m sure there are plenty of you who will jump on that, but the truth is at least 75% of that credit card debt was used to improve or repair the property, including a $5000 plumbing disaster that occurred earlier this year.

[nostradamus]

How old are you? If you’re in your 20’s I’d say this is a good learning experience which hopefully you can recover from in a decade or so, hang in there.

Part of the housing bubble is defined by the fact that income has not kept pace with housing.

How much, if any, equity do you have in the home? The way I see it, your choices are (in order of my own preference):

1. walk away and let it foreclose. this is assuming you don’t have much equity. you will take a hit on your credit report but in the future many companies who review your credit may be very forgiving to people in your situation if you had otherwise good credit except for this foreclosure thing. you may have to pay “forgiven debt” tax but there are talks of repealing this tax law as well, maybe in January.
2. refinance into a fixed-rate loan. You can do better than 8.75% (assuming good credit).

That’s about all I can think of for your choices… Now grab some lube and prepare to be reamed by other posters.

[nostradamus]

How old are you? If you’re in your 20’s I’d say this is a good learning experience which hopefully you can recover from in a decade or so, hang in there.

Part of the housing bubble is defined by the fact that income has not kept pace with housing.

How much, if any, equity do you have in the home? The way I see it, your choices are (in order of my own preference):

1. walk away and let it foreclose. this is assuming you don’t have much equity. you will take a hit on your credit report but in the future many companies who review your credit may be very forgiving to people in your situation if you had otherwise good credit except for this foreclosure thing. you may have to pay “forgiven debt” tax but there are talks of repealing this tax law as well, maybe in January.
2. refinance into a fixed-rate loan. You can do better than 8.75% (assuming good credit).

That’s about all I can think of for your choices… Now grab some lube and prepare to be reamed by other posters.

[nostradamus]

How old are you? If you’re in your 20’s I’d say this is a good learning experience which hopefully you can recover from in a decade or so, hang in there.

Part of the housing bubble is defined by the fact that income has not kept pace with housing.

How much, if any, equity do you have in the home? The way I see it, your choices are (in order of my own preference):

1. walk away and let it foreclose. this is assuming you don’t have much equity. you will take a hit on your credit report but in the future many companies who review your credit may be very forgiving to people in your situation if you had otherwise good credit except for this foreclosure thing. you may have to pay “forgiven debt” tax but there are talks of repealing this tax law as well, maybe in January.
2. refinance into a fixed-rate loan. You can do better than 8.75% (assuming good credit).

That’s about all I can think of for your choices… Now grab some lube and prepare to be reamed by other posters.

[nostradamus]

How old are you? If you’re in your 20’s I’d say this is a good learning experience which hopefully you can recover from in a decade or so, hang in there.

Part of the housing bubble is defined by the fact that income has not kept pace with housing.

How much, if any, equity do you have in the home? The way I see it, your choices are (in order of my own preference):

1. walk away and let it foreclose. this is assuming you don’t have much equity. you will take a hit on your credit report but in the future many companies who review your credit may be very forgiving to people in your situation if you had otherwise good credit except for this foreclosure thing. you may have to pay “forgiven debt” tax but there are talks of repealing this tax law as well, maybe in January.
2. refinance into a fixed-rate loan. You can do better than 8.75% (assuming good credit).

That’s about all I can think of for your choices… Now grab some lube and prepare to be reamed by other posters.

[betting on fall]

I too thank you for the post, and I hope you keep us updated.

But. . . . to begin the “jumping all over,” I don’t think you really answered the question about what unexpected events happened since you took out the loan.
Your loan went up, just as it was supposed to. You fixed up the house, which should have been expected if the house needed it. You mention the $5000 plumbing problem. I have some sympathy there, but occassional costly problems are an expected part of homeownership.

If nothing has changed with regard to your income, do you really expect GMAC to re-write your agreement?

[betting on fall]

I too thank you for the post, and I hope you keep us updated.

But. . . . to begin the “jumping all over,” I don’t think you really answered the question about what unexpected events happened since you took out the loan.
Your loan went up, just as it was supposed to. You fixed up the house, which should have been expected if the house needed it. You mention the $5000 plumbing problem. I have some sympathy there, but occassional costly problems are an expected part of homeownership.

If nothing has changed with regard to your income, do you really expect GMAC to re-write your agreement?

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