I am writing this because I saw a few consumer complaintss for Aurora loan service when homeowners were/are involved in a modification with Aurora. I just completed my modification process with Aurora and all went pretty darn close as they stated it would. Before I entered into this modification process with Aurora I had read many reports of experiences folks had had with Aurora and I took that information and I used it to my benefit. First I should point out that I have never been late on a payment. However, I was in an adjustable rate mortgage that was due to adjust real soon. I anticipated the rate increase was a real possibilty for us and I began my communications with Aurora almost 1 yr. Ago. I considered a conventional refi but I would have had to come up with enough $ to bring the home within a 80/20 ratio. That would have been 70K. Didn't have it. I then considered an FHA refi with a ratio of 97/3 but would have had to carry mortgage insurance and pay big bucks to close. That would have costed us about 20K over 5 years. Didn't want that. We considered a short sale just to get out of the home but that would have dinged my credit. We then applied for the gov. Modification program, which I really didn't want to do because I'm a republican but it didn't matter because we were declined because somewhere along the line someone bundled my loan (but didn't sell out side of aurora-hmm, not sure what that all meant) and we had some kind of insurance attached that disqualified us for the mod. So, even with my utter frustration with this whole sub-prime mess effecting the value of my property, I kept on them. (BTW: I feel members of congess did this.) Finally, one of their representatives suggested I try a modification again (I don't think this one is the gov. Mod. But not too sure since I was declined before I got the impression it was something different).
I went for it and this is the part I wanted to really share with the folks. Once I entered the terms, I never missed one payment. I was never late on a payment. I checked in often and insisted they always keep me up to date. I did recieve a letter stating that they were missing some of my paper work about 3 weeks before the review period was supposed to end. I got extremely concerned because from what I have been reading about lenders and loan modifications, one of their tricks is to come back to the client (me) at the last minute and say papers are missing. I felt that I may be becoming one of those folks the game was going to be played on. Many have stated that at the last minute the lenders come back and say this to them. I quickly called them and stated that I know for a fact that I triple checked everything and that they are wrong but, tell me what it is and I'll get it to them. I also clearly and bluntly told them that I did not want to play the "you're missing paperwork" game. The representative on the phone informed me that my account shows that I was missing 10 items but they only sent a letter for 2 items (I think that was the trck part???). I told them again, I didn't want to play games and if they need something to let me know all of it. The rep. Gave me the list and I quickly started putting it together. Mind you, these are the same papers I had already turned in, just more current on the accounts now. I got all new bank statements, new paycheck stubs, new anything I could. I also itemized my spending through the whole four months of the review period. I showed them everything, Food expense, Gas expense, Utilities expense, entertainment expense, mortgage expense, etc. All itemized into their proper expense accounts. My deposits vs my bills was within. 89 cents. I was approved before the the four month review was even up and my payment was lowered. I believe it was my disclosure, my timeliness, my aggressivness (nicely), my forcing them to keep me informed and of course, God. I became part of the process. I even called corporate a couple times to make sure they knew I existed. I just wanted this soooo bad. I hated being in an adjustable rate mortgage and was tired of the stress of what was to come when the LIBOR starts to climb that kept me up at night learning, reseaching and putting all I had into this process. I got approved yesterday. I just wanted to share this because even though many have been declined for all the wrong reasons I also noticed many complain about the decline and then when I read on I can see where they didn't go full force. Possible late payments, missed payments, bad credit, too big a loss of equity, paperwork incomplete, etc. If you are considering a modification, there are no guarantees but I personally would recommend that you become a big part of the process. Keep up with it.involve yourself. Be on time. Don't miss anything, ever! The chances increase... I'm proof.
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