How Mortgage Modification Programs are helping Consumers in Select U.S. Locations

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Transcript

Welcome Facebook Live viewers My name is Brad Bods. I'm with the pond and Vos law offices and we appreciate you joining us for our weekly Facebook live broadcast Please remember we do this every Wednesday at 1 o'clock PM and we try to have topics that are of interest to consumers and important to consumers today from from a legal perspective. the bot bot law offices help people with money problems and. Know that after this last year a lot of you are facing financial challenges. I encourage you reach out for help before things get really bad. We offer absolutely free initial consultations with an experienced attorney and right now we're doing those free consultations for your safety from the comfort convenience of your own home or office. We'll do them by video like we're meeting today or we'll do them by telephone. whatever works for you. We just want you to make. To reach out for help so last week during our episode, we lighten things up a little bit and we talked about one of my hobbies. We talked about the sport of bowling and the resurgence it is now seeing Post-pandemic bowling centers are starting to open back up. It was a fun episode but today we're going to get back to a little bit more serious topic. Read an AP Story this morning. Over three. 3 million people in the United States of America are behind on their mortgage payments right now the greatest number of people behind on their mortgages since the Great Depression. and they're behind because of the struggles we have had over the last year dealing with this pandemic people being out of work. and frankly the mortgage servicer. have allowed people to get behind. There's been. Moratorium on foreclosures so people with government guaranteed mortgages have been protected for for the most part from foreclosures today, I have a very special guest and expert and attorney that knows the mortgage Modification business knows this area of the law as well as it's just about anyone. I have today with us. Igor Roitburg and Igor is a. Director with a company by the name of strut and we'll talk more about strut as we get into our broadcast, but Igor thank you well well welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us today. Thank you. Brad Thank you for having me so Igor if you would for our viewers. let them know a little bit about your background and how you got involved with helping people with mortgage modifications. Sure. Thanks Brad so back in the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 as we saw. Of the mortgages go default and we have the mortgage meltdown our company started to build solutions to help borrowers navigate the mortgage Modification process at the end of the day, the mortgage Modification process is really nothing more than you submitting your paperwork to the to the service or to the mortgage lender for them to review the information and determine what programs you are qualified for and make an offer to you based on their rules. The problem is and the challenge is navigating all those applications and all that. Documentation and for anyone that has done this or has tried it, they'll understand how difficult it is so our company set out to build solutions to help borrowers do two things one provide correct documentation and understand what documentation I need to provide also provide a mechanism through our portal to allow the borrower to submit that information to the servicers so that they can communicate with one another and a centralized and streamlined fashion and we've been doing. For over a dozen years. and and and you've really gotten good at it, it's such an important function because I know from having represented Consumers for the last 30 years if you're already behind on your mortgage payment, you're already under that stress. and you're trying to deal over the telephone with with your mortgage servicer. and you talk with Joe, 1 Day and Nancy another day and they're telling you you need different documents. It's hard to get everything. So having a portal a way for individuals to communicate correctly with the mortgage servicers. just just great idea and a great tool you've put together. I want to try to help our viewers understand how significant an issue we have in front of us so. 3 million people, 3 million people in this country are behind on their mortgage payments right now. and at this point the great bulk. Are safe from foreclosure because there's been this foreclosure moratorium that's been implemented in our country to protect people. The moratorium moratorium is served an important purpose. It's kept people in their homes when they've been unable to work, but those moratorium are coming to an end some people project as early as this coming September. could be extended again, but in the very near future people that are behind on their mortgages are going to. To come up with a solution or they think is a solution. they face losing their home. and and we don't want people to lose their homes. So that's why it's going to be so important for those people that have been protected from foreclosure by the moratorium. to work out some sort of Modification if possible. with their mortgage servicer. and for our viewers, Igor and I will. The term mortgage servicer. The mortgage servers are you may think of you know, making your payment to a mortgage company. The mortgage servicer is really the entity that manages the mortgage. It's a term we use as attorneys for you. It's your mortgage company. It's it's it's the entity you make your mortgage payments to or you're supposed to make your mortgage payments too. So ego you referenced the foreclosure crisis that our country faced back in 2008 2009. What's different about what we're facing today in 2022? 2022021? Oh, I think the sad truth is statistically the delinquencies are even higher than they were back, then number one and number two in what particularly troubles me and concerns me is that a lot of the reasons behind people being behind on their mortgages is employment related reasons people who lost jobs people who haven't been able to find jobs at the same level and the result is as they're going to go through this Modification process. you're going to have to make sure that they can afford a new repayment and so it is you know. Very concerning to me that so much of this that that was behind this is caused by employment issues. It is a bigger problem. There are more people behind. but there are some good things for our viewers out there number one the mortgage industry from my perspective learned an important lesson back in 2008 2009 when people got behind on their mortgages, then Igor the mortgage services, although there were some early Programs by the Obama administration to encourage the servicers to try to do. Modifications with people. there wasn't a platform like yours, There wasn't a good system The mortgage services were overwhelmed. foreclosures went forward in large numbers and what that did is it drove down the value of homes so even if people were not behind, we're not facing a foreclosure, they were losing their equity in their homes. today there are tools available for people to work with their mortgage servicer and try to Mod. Their mortgages. so a lot of people when they think about trying to redo their mortgage, Igor they think about refinancing their mortgage. a Modification is different than refinancing can can you explain to our viewers The difference between the two sure so with a refinance you're basically applying for a brand-new Mortgage with a brand-new company. on the flip side when you're doing a Modification. You are asking the existing servicer to modify the terms of your existing loan. Keep in mind that when you have an existing loan, you already have a note in a mortgage, you've got it in many cases your mortgages may have been seized and so that there's investors behind the loan and and all of this other stuff that's happening on behind the behind the scenes that affects and impacts whether or not a servicer can offer you a modification because they not only are working with you. Also subject to contractual obligations they have, and it's important to know that even with all of the programs that the federal government ever put out, there were always there was always a carved out for the contractual obligations and the servicer always had to honor those obligations so it is important to know that you're not starting from scratch with the Modification with the Modification you are asking the existing terms of the note and the mortgage to be modified based on the parameters that the servicer has. Contractual agreements that they've made when they took over the servicing. so again for our viewers out there. The the refinance option is likely not going to be available if you're behind on your mortgage, Your credits are even impacted that may not be the best option but the mortgage servicers have an incentive and in fact they're required. to work with you and try to modify your mortgage and try to keep you in your home. so if you're behind on your mortgage, even though the moratorium is still in place, you need to be in touch. With the mortgage servicer now. They're frankly overwhelmed and in Alabama and Mississippi, the two states with a bonded offices are located. We have a non judicial foreclosure Igor the foreclosure process from start to finish can take place in just a matter of weeks. a person can lose their home. There's no court proceeding in fact in Alabama and Mississippi, there's not even a requirement that the mortgage servicer directly. Contact the individual they just have to publish it in a newspaper of common circulation. so folks what I want you to know is the modification process may not be a quick one, but there are ways to save your from a foreclosure. to a chapter thirteen reorganization type bankruptcy we can stop the foreclosure and then we can propose a plan to catch up on your mortgage payments over a period of time now, unfortunately. Igor People are so far behind in many cases right now and their income has been impacted that the chapter thirteen alone. will not be sufficient to help them keep their home. What I understand that your company is doing at this point is working with people to modify their mortgages with an attorney. after they've already got into the bankruptcy process. So. To our viewers, how that would work how people can modify their mortgage, even though they're already in a bankruptcy. Oh, thanks Brad. That's a great question so the way our systems work and the way that our programs work is once you are in a bankruptcy and I think you've raised an excellent point right first and foremost the foreclosure is stopped at that moment to buy yourself some time then what our programs do is we allow the debtor in the bankruptcy to then communicate. The servicer to know what documents they need in order to apply for that Modification. So as we talked about you know refinance versus Modification through this program we can directly connect the borrower with the mortgage servicer to allow them to apply in a streamlined fashion by knowing exactly what information they need to provide and also capturing everything in one single solitary space where the borrower and the borrower's Attorney can communicate with. A mortgage servicer to complete the review of the application answer any questions you may have and ensure that you get a proper answer for that application and hopefully qualify for one of their Modification Programs that they already have in existence. what our systems essentially do is we provide that super highway of connection between the borrower and the and the servicer to allow them to be evaluated for that mortgage Modification. And get rid of all of the the issues and the struggles that people have with terms of documentation. and I want to emphasize to our viewers. What a tremendous resources This is I've been practicing bankruptcy law for well over 30 years, The bond and moist law offices have been helping people facing a financial challenges facing potential foreclosures for over 30 years. Folks you need to reach out for help as soon as possible again we can. File or reorganization type bankruptcy will protect all your assets you're usually not going to pay it much of any of an attorney's fee upfront to get your thirteen reorganization filed and to protect your home but in the past. what we had to do is we had to rely on our client's ability to communicate with their mortgage servicer in a undisciplined unorganized manner to try. To get the necessary documents together to accomplish a modification of their mortgage and I can't tell you what a nightmare, it's been you would deal with different people with the mortgage servicer you would be told to send different documents there would be a lack of communication misunderstandings and then. there are time periods within which all of these documents need to be submitted. so we have people that would get stuff in. and then be. They had to start all over again because they didn't have pay stubs or tax returns that were recent enough. so ego you're now a managing director with strut and and for our viewers strut is a company that not only does this mortgage modifications with the platform that egos develop. they also provide a bankruptcy petition preparation software that we attorneys use they also. Work with bankruptcy trustee for has all of the people connected and now the mortgage servicer plugged in and this platform utilizes technology. so that your bankruptcy attorney once you're in that chapter thirteen bankruptcy and you're protected can help you in an efficient in an effective way to modify your mortgage and then once you reach an agreement with your mortgage servicer and you have things in place you. To get the bankruptcy court stamp of approval on that Modification and Igor, it's my understanding that you've also got a plan for that. we do have some other bankruptcy attorneys that listen to our our feed and I think it's important for our consumers that are listening to know how does that bankruptcy court involvement work into your platform right? so what we've done is and this this is true across the country as we work with bankruptcy courts to establish programs where the courts will def. Some of the rules that they want people to engage with one another on and our systems track and manage all that stuff. So you talked about you know communicating with different people with our systems. You never have to worry about whether or not you need to contact Mary or Bob you simply send your documents and the services are on on their on their end configure their own portal to work with you and make sure that it gets to the right person at the right time. It's important to highlight that we have at this point over 500 plus servicers already integrated. With our system, what that means is, they have provided us their requirements based on different situations. We have programmed that into our system so when you come in and you identify the type of household income, you have the hardships you have who your servicer is all of that information is provided for you very specifically and customized for both the debtor and for that mortgage servicer and on top of that the servicers have been trained. We have some services that have been with us for more than 10 years so they. People who know how to operate this efficiently and effectively, and I will tell you that on average in in our programs, we're getting about thirty to 45 days, you're getting a decision from from the servicer, which is you know unheard of because if you go back to how many of these programs work, you're talking, you know nine to 15 months and then most of the time you ended up being told you had to just submit a new package. We're getting decisions in about thirty to 45 days and and again that's that's just amazing. So. The the platform allows the consumers bankruptcy attorney to work with the mortgage servicer directly to directly. provide the documentation needed and then once an agreement is reached, you're allowed to go to the bankruptcy Court to approve the process has this been received by bankruptcy courts across the country. Generally speaking, they're very happy with it because before they would be told that they would have to wait to get a resolution from something that they had no transparency or visibility now. Programs help find some of that those rules things get done much more quickly and the court has real answers as to what's happening and many of these courts actually like you, said you file a motion you get an order. Everything is done very neat and orderly and the entire bankruptcy is handled in a much more efficient manner as you know about mortgages are a huge issue for people. in in in default and so it's important to be able to provide tools for people to deal. And that's what the DMM portal does is we provide the tools to make sure that both the debt and the creditor can make AA reason decision and hopefully get the borrower Approved for Modification. So what I want consumers to know here is I know what it's like to be behind on your bills. I know what the anxiety of not being able to pay your mortgage can do. not being able to make your mortgage payment can create health problems it can create marital problems, you know, husbands and wives. You all know I mean you can't pay your bills. Sometimes the tension can get to you There's stress there's anxiety you have a difficult time focusing on your job and being a good parent. There are people out there that want to help you. all parties in this situation really want to help you get back on track with your mortgages if at all possible. you you're behind you of course, want a solution to help yourself get caught up on your mortgage payments. I'm. Bankruptcy attorney What I do is we help people with money problems and we've been doing it for a long time again, the bonded Bos law offices are located throughout Alabama throughout Mississippi and we're doing absolutely free initial consultations right now we want to help you. the mortgage servicer do not want to see what happened back in 2008 2009 they don't want to see a Russia foreclosures. They do not want to see real estate values push. Out and and last, but not the least the bankruptcy courts exist to help debtors get a fresh start to help debts get their finances back in order. so, in this instance virtually all parties want to help you and they're being pulled together by this great platform that eager has Igor has helped develop here so Igor we talked about the difference between a refine refinance and a Mortgage Modification. You gave the basics, but but there are in many cases. some great advantages to a Modification. It's not just getting caught up on payments. things can happen with interest rates and in fact the balance owed is that correct sure absolutely so the way that the servicer will modify your mortgage. They'll basically look into their bag of tools and some of those tools include lowering your interest rate to as low as 2% and in some cases. They'll extend the term of your mortgage to 480 months. They'll take all of the careers that you have and payments that you've missed and just roll them right into the mortgage. So there are a lot of different tools and a lot of different options that servicers have right that really make it. a very positive opportunity for borrowers to to to try and take advantage of and I strongly encourage anyone that's behind to to speak to an attorney to. What their options are because servicers I know a lot of people often thought that you know servicers want to take their their home. That's the furthest thing from the truth Most servicers want to try and get that loan performing and they just need to be able to communicate with the borrower and make sure they have the right information so that they can comply with all of their requirements in order to get you into Modification. but absolutely people need to come speak to their attorney and make sure. They're evaluated for these things because servicers are doing mortgage modifications every day. great great advantage to being able to communicate with with your mortgage company your mortgage servicer and we see some amazing things as Igor said. And it's it's don't just take his word reach out to other people you know get on the internet, you'll find that mortgage balances are being written down and interest rates are being reduced. payments are certainly. Reduced so there are ways for you to save your home. I want to emphasize not everybody is going to qualify for a modification but you owe it to yourself to at least look into this. The chapter thirteen could give you some time to get things in order to protect your home. and a good bankruptcy attorney and certainly our attorneys at bounce will help you explore every option available to keep you in your home. Igor I'm going to break just for a second here and then I want to we've had some questions coming in from some of our viewers and I want to give you a chance to answer them. Let me just remind those of you who may have joined us late. my name is Brad Bods. I'm a partner with the bond and bots law offices, the Bonnie Bos law offices have been helping people in Alabama and Mississippi for over 30 years with financial problems. We we've been doing this for a long time and I can tell you that if you. He's working with my firm that attorney is somebody that cares about people cares about helping people overcome the burdens of debt. We know what money problems can do to people. at this time you need to be proactive you need to reach out for help and there are people available to help you. all of our offices are offering absolutely free. absolutely free initial consultations with an experienced attorney right now we. Out to us, you can call the number on your screen or you can go to our website. We have a lot of additional information on our website and there's a form there where you can reach out for a consultation with an attorney. I want to talk to you if I can, I want to help you come up with a solution to work your way out of debt and if you're married, I want you to work together rather than allowing this to create division within your marriage there are opportunities. we do. And is Facebook Live weekly and these events live on our Facebook pages so if you know somebody that can benefit from what you've heard today from the great information that Igor shared with us refer them back to our Facebook page or to our website so that they can listen to this information again over 3 million people more people that at any time since the Great Depression are behind on their mortgages right now and. In a very short period of time these foreclosure moratorium are going to come to an end so people need to figure out what they're going to do. II am very fortunate today to have an experienced. Mortgage Modification Attorney, an expert in the field Igor Roitburg is a managing director with strut and has developed a platform to help all parties work together to help consumer. Save their homes. Igor Thanks again for joining us today we always try to give our viewers an opportunity to post some questions and we've had some come through. and I'm going to give you a chance to answer them. I know the answer to this first one, but I must not have done a good enough job of explaining. if I've missed mortgage payments and I disqualified for modifying my mortgage. You are not disqualified per se, but certainly it's more likely to be very costly and more difficult to try and refinance Modification is probably the better approach because the service will have more tools to give you better terms. Okay. So. I'm always big on making sure these terms we use to get through to our viewers here. You're behind on your board. get your payments a refinance of your mortgage. Read you the loan is probably going to be difficult but it will not. impact your ability to modify your mortgage. Igor II guess people aren't even going to be in Modification portal unless they're struggling with mortgage payments so being behind on payments is not going to impact and eligibility for Modification correct no to to the contrary. It's a prerequisite you you you you're not going to you're not going to get a modification if there's not a reason to modify the existing terms of your your your. In your note. So so again. yes, you are eligible to modify refinance is going to be tough. and again remember that the foreclosure process in the state of Alabama and Mississippi is very fast. You can lose your home in a matter of weeks, so you may not have time to refinance get to one of our offices if you're behind if you're facing a foreclosure, we can get you into a chapter thirteen bankruptcy. It's a reorganization type bankruptcy to help you save your home and then we can. Look at the options to modify to impact the balance of your mortgage and your future payments. This next question is probably better for me to answer and the question is if I've missed payments. will my mortgage company foreclose on my home they don't want to, but yes they will if you're behind on your mortgage payments. the mortgage servicer can. Absolutely will foreclose on your home. Unfortunately, I've seen too many people over the years that have not acted proactively have not gotten out in front of the problem. they were behind on their mortgage payments and their home has been foreclosed on. ego is something we've seen far too often in the past is people try to modify their mortgage on their own. they're dealing with. One branch of their mortgage servicer and somebody else with the mortgage servicer. is moving forward with the actual foreclosure, or it's already been set out to an attorney to do the foreclosure folks in Alabama. If you lose your home if it's foreclosed out you don't own the home anymore You have a very short period of time in which you can try to redeem your home, but it's a difficult process you need to. Before the foreclosure takes place so again mortgage services really don't want to foreclose on your home and they really don't want to take your home back. and I'm not you know I'm a bankruptcy attorney. I've I've had my disputes with mortgage services over the years, but just from a purely financial perspective, they don't want your home back and they don't want a lot of homes back because it's going to drive down the value of real estate and they have. Expenses if they have to take the home back and resell it so there are options but yes, if if you behind foreclosure is definitely a possibility don't just stick your head in the sand reach out for help. Igor Next question. If I modify my mortgage well, I have to repay all my missed mortgage payments at once now, typically no that's the whole point of the Modification is that the servicer will take a look at what's been missed all the all the missed payments any fees charges and they will figure out a solution for how to get you on an affordable payment plan and I do stress affordable because you guys may have heard of Fannie and Freddie. They're the two largest. Government sponsored enterprises and they often times set the course for how modifications and how Mortgage policy is done and their program that they use and you can look this up. It's called the flex Mod the when when they're servicers are doing modifications, they actually target. a reduction of 20% in the principal and interest in your payment. so not only are you not going to be repaying everything at once. Actually the goal of the program is to use those tools lowering the interest rate extending the terms of the loan forgiving some of the principles to get you to a payment where you are actually paying less than what you were paying before, because they understand that if you're having trouble affording the original payment, let's get you into a better payment. that's more affordable using the tools they have. you know you did a great job of answering that question, but I think I may have read the question. I think this person's question is. Moratorium ends could be as early as this September will I have to make all of my payments at once. so the answer to that is I don't think so that there's been guidance from the federal government that that's not what their intentions are, but again if you have a private mortgage servicer, you have a loan that's not backed by the federal government, it's not owned by Fannie or Freddie or any of the other federal agencies you may be in a position where you're dealing strictly with. And some of them may do it, although what I have heard is that is not at all the intention the intention is going to be to try and work things out with people and put them on a report repayment plan and deal with the missed payments in a way that's manageable rather than simply say giving somebody a bill for the last 12 months of mortgage payments that they haven't made. the problem is none of us really know for sure this is all new I've been practicing. For well over 30 years been helping people with mortgage issues never seen a foreclosure moratorium like we saw going into effect in 2020 that is still largely in effect and there's a lot of speculation as to what's going to happen when this moratorium ends and as Igor said there are good intentions out there, but what's important for consumers for homeowners to know is. Regardless of what the intentions are regardless of what programs are being set up in Alabama in Mississippi and in many states the foreclosure process can happen very quickly. so in the moratorium ends if if you don't have a plan in place. the foreclosure can take place in you know weeks. literally four to 5 weeks. so. So you need to be proactive you need to get out in front of things and if you're going to go to an attorney for help, try not to wait to the last minute. that the sooner you get to us or the sooner we can get you to someone like Igor to help the better off you are. if II, just 5 minutes, it's only what you're saying and I know a lot of people sort of wouldn't have this moratorium. It's easy to not think about the the payments and it's easy to sort of you know not think of a plan now before the moratorium ends. It's important for people to start thinking of a plan and how they're going to. Address that and handle that and now is a good opportunity to start talking with your attorney who is competent and knowledgeable about how these processes work because you need to have someone by your side to help you navigate this process. That's one of the biggest challenges that we've seen over the years is there are borrowers that try to do this on their own brand. The challenge is it's you know it's like getting into and trying to hit a all this Chapman fastball right If you're not, you know, it's hard to do it as it is right. but if you if you have no. Is doing it You're really going to have a tough time so now before even the moratorium moratorium and we encourage people to have that conversation have that plan be ready, especially because now the servicers are certainly going to be less busy than they're going to be in three to 6 months, so now is even more opportunity to get more focus on your on your loan with the servicer A great great great advice, Igor and and I can't underscore what what you just heard enough. Out in front of this process, hundreds of thousands millions of people are behind on their mortgage payments and the mortgage servicer even with this tremendous platform that Igor is is set up are going to be overwhelmed so try to get a plan in place in advance. Igor Next question. Do I have to work with an attorney to apply for a mortgage Modification There's no legal requirement to do it so technically the answer is no, but I will tell you. Success we see of people working with an attorney versus without is you you know it's it's there's no comparison, attorneys know the process they understand which documents need to be put together. They understand some of the rules and that are governing How servicers have to operate and it is certainly much more advisable to have an attorney on your side. There's no legal requirement to do it, but it is far more successful to have an attorney by your side. And to add to that I would encourage folks to reach out to an attorney that is local somebody in your community that has experience in this area. I hope you'll come to one of the voters law offices if you're in Alabama or Mississippi, but if listening elsewhere in the country to this. there are. experienced attorneys throughout the country. If you don't know of a good qualified bankruptcy attorney in your area, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. That's a. Has a tremendous website where you can find a qualified bankruptcy attorney in your area. and you know those that work with a company that Igor with strut that use the best case bankruptcy software. are going to be able to plug directly into the portal that Igor set up and I know that many of the attorneys that are involved with the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy attorneys work with best case work with and we'll be hopefully. Up to work with the platform. that Igor has helped set up so. the next question here is do you think President Biden is going to pass. another program to help people with mortgages? Will there be any future relief packages? Oh boy. That's really hard to Answer II think I'll have better luck guessing the lottery numbers than answering that Brad, but that's obviously. But the reality of it is at some point there has to you know there has to be a review and a reconciliation of everything that's happened. We can't continue to to kick the can down the road at some point, it is important to have AAA plan to address the ears and again this goes back to the to the comment I made a little bit earlier, get in front of it. It is you know the longer even though there's the servicer doesn't have the legal right to foreclose on you right now. Or maybe a moratorium, it doesn't mean that interest isn't adding up. It doesn't mean that those payments aren't adding up, which also means that it's it's going to be more and more difficult to try and find programs that work because you're having to find a solution for a larger and larger problem. so the quicker you can get in there the better if you have if you have the ability to go speak to someone and get started on a Modification process if you're in default, I strongly encourage you to do it and get in front of it as quickly as possible. You know you go ahead. Guess a few weeks back legal services Attorney here in Alabama and we talked about both the foreclosure moratorium and the eviction moratorium that are out there. What what she's stressed and I think what is true in this instance to is these moratorium these Modification Programs they don't just happen on their own. not all mortgage companies are bound by the moratorium that are in place right now, not all. Landlords are bound by the eviction moratorium that are in place. if you. have an eviction proceeding initiated if have a foreclosure proceeding initiated against you don't just sit back and say well, they can't do that. you've gotta get out in front of it or you're going to be out on the street. you're going to lose your apartment or home that you're renting or you're going to lose that home that you've purchased and that your family lives and get out in front. Situation. Next questi on Igor is. where can I go to find out if I qualify for one of these programs? Really, the only way you can do it is to apply for them The reality of it is most of these loans. You're not going to know what programs you're you're available for until you go through the process and are being reviewed by the mortgage servicer. There's all sorts of things that are happening in the background again Most of these mortgages are part of these larger sects and what that means is there's these what what are called pulling and servicing agreements and they govern what can and can't be done in the event of a. And so the only way you can really find out is to make that application and programs change too. So it's very hard to give somebody sort of a black and white bride and say you will qualify or you will not qualify. the general advice that we give people is that you because of how important your home is we recommend that everybody who is in default tries to get a modification to see if that's possible because you. Don't know what programs are available for your specific loan and it doesn't matter what your neighbor has. it doesn't matter what you read on the evening News a lot of times There's a program that you know is specific to your pool that you just may not be aware of and without going through the process and having the service or and conduct the underwriting you will not know for sure and given what's at risk your home. I just think that it's 100 out of 100 times it's worth giving giving it a shot. So for our viewers. if if you're a consumer, you need to reach out to an experienced bankruptcy attorney again, if you're in Alabama or Mississippi, the contact information for our firm is on the screen in front of you. call us go to our website. go to our Facebook page. We have a lot lot of ways for you to reach out and we're offering free initial consultations. if you're a bankruptcy attorney and we we know some of our fellow bankruptcy attorneys. Listen in. Learn more about the mortgage Modification programs being offered by through bankruptcy the best case there are some. more and more information coming out about this portal and it's really going to be a valuable tool to help consumers moving forward. You know Igor. I always feel we use terms again like security and mortgage servicers. I try to explain to my viewers and my clients what's happening in this manner you know when when my parents bought their first home. 4050 years ago they went to the local bank or local savings and loan, and they met with a local banker and they they fill out an application and they qualify for a mortgage and once their mortgage was approved every month, they went down to that savings and loan and went down to that local bank and they made their payment and it was a good. Relationship with that local banker and if they got behind or face some hardship, they'd go and talk to the banker. and often be able to work out some sort of agreement. what's happened over the last few decades is that the mortgage business has become you've heard the term security. What that means and are you correct me if I'm wrong in any of this, But what happens is you deal with a local bank or a local mortgage broker? but once you qualify? You're approved for that mortgage It's sold off your local bank isn't taking care of that mortgage that local mortgage broker that you dealt with has nothing to do with it anymore. It's being managed by a servicer It's probably owned by a trust or a multitude of trust, but it's being managed by a servicer and that servicer doesn't know you doesn't know what's going on in your community necessarily but it is. Found by a lot of rules and regulations that it has to comply with. and that's why in this situation it's so important to know that they are required to work with you and they want to work with you in most instances to try to modify your mortgage and to try to keep you in your home. Am I missing there anything there you go you and I understand. more. SE but III try to bring it home to people and help them understand what's changed. anything. I've missed there in explaining that process. No, I think you have to nail it on the head right. I the only thing I would just add to that is is to highlight what you just said right before you could go down to your local banker bread and say, hey, I'm having a problem. What can we do to work things out and you can have a conversation that could be a clear channel of communication today. What's happened is as you correctly point out the loans are being sold off and there's also. Of rules and regulations and contracts that govern how those loans are supposed to be managed going forward. so there is no longer your banker brand that you can sit down have a cup of coffee with and say look you've known me for 20 years. You know I had a rough 6 months. I'm back on my feet. I want to work things out right now. you have to go through a process and that's what we've done in terms of helping you understand that process prepare for that process and apply through the process and what's. With again going back to having an attorney by your side, the attorney can make sure that even with all that in place, all of the rules are being followed, they're more familiar with the forms you're more familiar with the documentation and they can help you navigate those waters a lot better than you could probably do it on your own. And it's just it's it's great that the technology has been developed since a decade ago when we had the last foreclosure crisis and that there are ways for people to seek Modification of their mortgages ego are running near the end. We have a few minutes left here. What I'm going to do is just to give you some warnings. I'm going to recap for our viewers. What what we've been through? but at the end, I want to give you an opportunity to address anything. I may have missed anything you think is important but to. For our viewers, first of all this Facebook live event and all of our events live on our website and live on our Facebook page So if you know somebody that may be behind on their mortgage, somebody that isn't quite sure what they're going to do when this mortgage moratorium ends encourage them to share this Facebook live with them encourage them to go to our website Igor has shared some great information today. so so so make sure people are aware of this feed. It's important to know that the moratorium that has existed. throughout the end of 2020 and the first part of 2021 will be coming to an end soon. The foreclosures will start back up at some time likely in September of this year. over three. 3 million people in this country are behind on their mortgages. That's more than in any time since the Great Depression people. and unless those people do something to get caught up on or to modify their mortgage. They face the real risk of having their home foreclosed on and of losing their home. The good news is that programs now exist, but don't wait to the last minute. get out in front of the. mass of people that are going to be looking to modify their mortgages once this moratorium comes to an end. at the bond and law offices, we have been helping people with mortgage issues for over 30 years. We understand what it's like to be behind on your mortgage payment and we know what options are available. at a minimum. we should be able to get you into a chapter thirteen reorganization bankruptcy reorganization bankruptcy will allow you to protect your home and all of your other assets and work out a repayment plan, but that bankruptcy that reorganization will stop the foreclosure. We get you into that chapter thirteen bankruptcy. We can then help you to study the Modification options that Igor is presented for us today. and and what what's wonderful now as opposed to back in 2008 2009 when we represented so many folks facing foreclosures is that today this wonderful portal exists through which your bankruptcy attorney on your behalf can help you. With the mortgage servicer and try to keep you in your home, try to accomplish reduced payments that will allow you to satisfy your mortgage, perhaps over a longer period of time, perhaps at a lower interest rate. but keep you in your home. We want to help you folks. There's a lot of us out here that want to help you but you've gotta reach out for help. Igor I want to thank you again. One for joining us, but just as importantly, more importantly for this tremendous product, you've developed and if we're providing a tool for bankruptcy attorneys to help our clients. we are near the end of the hour, but I want to give you an opportunity. is there anything I missed anything you think that's important for homeowners to know. about the mortgage Modification process. I don't think you've missed anything about it, but I would is Echo is the following there are programs. people should not lose Hope servicers really. have been. This for the last decade and I've learned a lot of things are getting better at it every day as Brad pointed out, they're not really looking to try and foreclose on your home, but you have to work with them to provide them the information that they need to determine whether or not you qualify for any of the mortgage Modification programs they have and the best way to do that is seek out the help of a really good attorney that understands the process and can utilize the tools that we've helped. To make that process even easier and so you know remain hopeful and and get and get help. and we're we're going to get through this together folks. It's been tough and there's still some tough times ahead, but we can get through this if we stick together and work through this together and it's great to see smart people like Igor working on on a product like this. so. and I want to throw in one more time and I normally don't do this but if you are a bankruptcy attorney. And if you want to help people with the mortgage Modification process reach out to Igor his contact information has been on the screen and he's contact me directly if you if you need an introduction. but strut through best cases doing some tremendous thing to help people with the mortgage Modification process. Igor Thank you again. to all of our viewers on behalf of all of us at Bon and boats on behalf of Igor. God bless all of you and we look forward to seeing you again next week. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Igor. Thank you. Brad.