I am a loan mitigation councilor for Titanium Solutions as mentioned in this previous post. It's great to help a family keep their home after they have suffered some tragedy. Since this category is new on my blog I will recount these events from 1-month ago.
Sarah and her husband were just over 90-days late on their mortgage. I visited their townhouse twice and didn't find them at home either time. I left my business card both times and also left a message on Sarah's work phone. I was about to give up on ever talking to them when Sarah called me and said they had been busy.
She went on to explain that:
- this past weekend they spent time at the emergency room with their child who experienced an injury
- over the last year their family experienced 3 car accidents, two of which were the fault of the other drivers (who did not have insurance); this caused the need to buy 2 cars
- their car insurance more than doubled
- Sarah's husband had surgery and missed lots of work; he went on family medical leave, during which time she was the only source of income
- Sarah's husband contacted hepatitis at work; because he's employed in the medical field the Department of Health prevented him from working; he had been out of work for almost 5-months
- Sarah became pregnant
- Sarah was diagnosed with gestational diabetes
It's no surprise that they were late on their mortgage payments. The surprise is that they maintained their sanity. Perhaps their faith pulled them through these situations.
The loan servicer came up with the following solution:
- add all unpaid interest, servicer advances, and fees to the principal balance
- move the maturity date of the loan back a few months
- make their next payment due in 60-days
- reduce the interest rate from 8.35% to 8%
- reset the payment from $1001.30 to $1,115.70
Granted, Sarah's payment went up $115 per-month. However, her husband had just gotten another job, the solution was much cheaper than paying all the delinquencies, and it took the pressure off this struggling family. Sarah's sister is a Realtor (isn't everyone related to one), so they can always sell at a later date. For now this family can get back on it's feet and their new baby will have a home.
It's a good day when things turn out like this.
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