In case you have not heard. If you have a mortgage through Chase, Washington Mutual or EMC and are facing foreclosure, JP Morgan Chase has set up 26 Regional Home Ownership centers in various parts of the country.
These centers are designed to help people facing foreclosure, where possible, save their homes. They do this by modifying their mortgages and reducing their monthly mortgage payments to levels that these people can afford to make.
Currently they have about 2,500 advisers in these centers. The centers are in California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
If your mortgage is with Chase, Washington Mutual or EMC, you may want to find out where the Home Ownership Center in your area is. You may also wonder if you should go to them and see how they will modify your mortgage.
I would tell you not to. The reason is simple. While their advisers are there to review your case, modify your mortgage and reduce your monthly mortgage payment to a level you can afford to make, they are not impartial.
Remember – They are working for Chase. They are not going to look at whether there were any errors made at the time of closing on your mortgage which jeopardized your legal rights. If there were, you would have a stronger case and be able to get a better deal. That deal might have a much lower payment than the one they offer.
Also – since they are representing Chase and not you, they are not going to look in great detail at your finances and income. They are going to rely on what you give them. They will only take into account what you say. If you inadvertently omit something crucial, the offer they make to you might be at a higher monthly payment than you can afford.
I suggest that you hire a lawyer or an expert in stopping foreclosures to help you. They can contact Chase’s Home Ownership Center. Prior to that, they will get complete information on all of your current debts and your income. They then will do a thorough analysis to see how low a monthly mortgage payment you really need to save your home. They also will review the paper work from your mortgage application and closing to see if any legal errors were made. If there were, they can open your entire case and may be able to negotiate a more favorable outcome for you.
It is great that Chase has opened up these centers. However, let the person representing you do all the negotiating with the adviser at their center assigned to your case.
Much Success,
Mark Elkins
