Yesterday, I talked to the owner of a 3 family homer who had fallen behind on his mortgage. He had lost his job and two of his tenants . After getting a lower paying job, he managed to get an agreement for a trial loan modification program through his mortgage holder.He told me that he has made last 5 timely payments on a trial Loan Mod, partly by digging into his savings and was still waiting for closing date. Every time he called for an update, he was referred to an office in a different state. He wound up hiring a lawyer.
Today's NY Times has a story about screw ups by another of the major banks that help explain why the housing market is in such a mess. One of their conclusions is is that if you're facing foreclosure, hang in there! The bank may not even be able to prove they own your mortgage.
