How long does a loan modification take and is there any way to speed it up?

A loan modification can take anywhere from 30 days to 90 days to complete. It really depends on several different factors including, but not limited to:

• Who your current mortgage lender is
• If you are current or delinquent on your payments
• How thorough you are when submitting the modification request
• The manner in which you communicate with your lender/servicer

Each one of these factors deserves some further dissection.

Your current lender may delay the loan modification process. Keep in mind, most lenders are overwhelmed with delinquent accounts, short sale requests, foreclosure filings, etc.. In fact, they have resorted to sifting and sorting each request so they can prioritize who appears to need help the most. This brings us to our next factor, how delinquent you are.

Believe it or not, your lender is not proactive, in fact, they are very reactive. You would think that a lender would want to prevent a homeowner from becoming delinquent on their mortgage payment by working out a repayment plan. Unfortunately, it is exactly the opposite. Most lenders choose to work with homeowners who are behind with their mortgage payments over those who are current. The bank’s reasoning is a bit over simplified but if you can’t afford your mortgage payment, how can you consistently make it on time?

Another important factor to keep in mind when requesting a loan modification is the completion of the paperwork involved. Lenders like to receive all the necessary paperwork and documentation at one time. They don’t like to receive 10 different faxes or letters because it slows things down. They also like to receive a specific set of documents along with some other worksheets. If these worksheets are incomplete and there is missing documentation, your request for a loan modification gets pushed back to the end of a very long line which really slows things down.

The last factor is how you communicate with your lender. Keep in mind, when you contact your lender you will be speaking with the collection department or customer service and they aren’t very helpful. These representatives aren’t paid very much and really don’t like their job. If you are mean, impatient, or belligerent, you won’t get very far. It’s best to tackle these phone calls with an open mind and a positive mental attitude. Remember, the person you talk to is not the one who put you in this mess but they are the one that can help you out of it.

If you would like to speed up the process, than you should do one of two things. You can try and request a loan modification on your own with the assistance of our DIY Loan Modification Package. This DIY kit contains contact numbers, budget worksheets, call logs, scripts and samples to assist you in preparing, requesting and negotiating your own mortgage modification.

Or, you can choose our Full Loan Modification Service and we do it all for you. All you have to do is complete the Loan Modification Kit and we do everything else for you. This will get you your fastest results and a better chance a completing a successful loan modification.

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