If you are behind on your mortgage and facing foreclosure, you have options.   One is to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows you to pay off the back amount due (the “arrearage”) over 3 to 5 years at 0% interest under the oversight of the bankruptcy court.  While you are in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the state foreclosure action generally CANNOT PROCEED unless you fail to make your payments and the Court gives the bank permission to continue.

Another option is to apply for a Mortgage Modification.  This is not the same as a refinance, which is difficult to obtain when you are behind on your mortgage because your credit score has probably fallen, you may have limited or no equity in the house, and banks are leery of giving loans to people that have a history of not paying their bills.   A refinance can also be expensive – you may not realize it because the fees are usually rolled into the new mortgage but it’s not unusual for bankruptcy to cost $10,000 or more.

A Mortgage Modification, on the other hand, is a deal you make with your current mortgage holder to start fresh.   The bank can change the mortgage in many different ways – they can extend the maturity date to bring down the monthly payment, they can decrease the interest rate to reduce the monthly payment, they can “write off” some of the amounts you owe, or they can essentially create a 2nd mortgage for the amount you are behind without making changes to the existing mortgage.   A Mortgage Modification may be more difficult to get now than it was after the banking crisis when the government was involved but many banks are still offering their own mortgage modification reviews.  It’s always worth asking – often you can download the application from your bank’s website.

Best of all, a mortgage modification is free.
You don’t need to hire an attorney and you don’t need to hire a vendor that contacts you to offer to help.  In our experience, often out-of-state non-attorneys slow down the process and may get worse results than you would get on your own – but they’re happy to take your money anyway.

There are several CT attorneys that will help you obtain a mortgage modification if you feel you need help with the paperwork.
if you are looking for a loan modification attorney Call us today for more information.