Loan Modification Hell: Thanksgiving Success Stories #3

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of peace and celebration for what we have. But so many homeowners are in dire straits thanks to the messed-up loan modification programs that I feel have only complicated our problems. My Thanksgiving gift to you is a short series of Loan Modification Success Stories.
Click to read Loan Modification Success Stories #1, Success Stories #2, and Success Stories #4.
The Loan Modification Hell road has been long and pretty rough. Millions of homeowners have applied for a loan modification under the government's HAMP program. About one-tenth of those who applied for at temporary loan modification were approved for a permanent loan modification.

My Loan Modification Hell blogs have been extremely active, with folks checking back to let me (and each other) know what's happening. Every once in a while, someone posts their success story.

For those in the trenches, I wanted to share a few success stories:

From Ubbawabba:

Well, I do not really know if the complaint filed with OCC got my loan approval thru or not. I called in on Tuesday and was told that the final docs were sent out. However; there was no tracking number. I also was given the name of my loan preservationist. No phone # though, so I requested a call from him. ( by the way he was the first guy that was on my case when I first entered into the program at the PO of WF) So any way I wanted that tracking # so I called several times to see about tracking #.
Yesterday I got a call from PO at WF and the newest girl assigned my case said indeed the loan had been approved but she did not have a tracking # for me yet. She did want me to know that my complaint from the OCC had been reviewed and that another person was responding to it. I said is that going to make a difference with my loan? I asked because I thought it odd that she wanted me to know that they got it??? Her response was no not at all. Anyway an hour or so later I got a call from the first girl that worked with me from the PO at WF and she asked how I was doing and if I had any ?s. I had called her several days before and had not heard from her. She called to give me my tracking number and to congratulate me. She is very sweet and one of the ones that really cares about what happens to you as a person. My loan has been modified to a fixed 3.25 for 5 yrs and then to a 4.25 for the life of the loan. It matures one year earlier than my original loan. I asked her too about the complaint to OCC and she explained that they were investigating the person that I complained about and also were listening to the tapes of our conversation. Anyway today I am to be receiving my Docs via FEDEX and my first payment is due Nov.1, 2010.
It has been a long road but like others have posted here call, call, call. Do not give up or in if you have a case. use everything at your disposal. Email addresses, phone numbers, the Exec. Offices of the President at your bank. You are your best advocate. Do not leave it up to anyone else. Keep a log and get ID#s every time you call. mention past conversations along with the ID # so the person on the other end knows that you are serious. If you get turned down for something that you know is wrong call over and over. Get a person in PO of your bank because then you are only dealing with one person. Call the standard number when you want to find out what has been recorded in your file. Do not wait for the Bank to call you. You call them. They are not going to keep track of you. Only YOU are going to keep track of you. If you get a rude person get the ID # and the phone number to file a complaint in your bank. If the first person will not give it to you, call again and again until you get someone to give it to you. Before I actually got to the Presidential Offices I would call sometimes several times in a row until I got someone who was sympathetic and knew what they were talking about. Believe me this all takes diligence and is not for the fainthearted. You have to be determined from the beginning and know that it is not as easy as 123. There was times that I felt like giving up. But I would sleep on it and then get up ready to face the battle again and again. I do think however since there is so many blogs like this that people are getting armed and the banks are realizing that people are not stupid. This is a time when it is not a generalized group of people that the banks are dealing with. They are dealing with people from all walks of life at many different education levels and age groups and from folks that never dreamed they would go through this in their lifetime. Many have owned many homes in their life and did not have ARMS that went up. Just too many people that lost their long time jobs and income. So it is fair to say that the banks were ill prepared as well.
So if you want to preserve your home fight for it.

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