A San Clemente Homeowner Writes to Say Thank You for help with Bank of America Mortgage
A San Clemente homeowner who first met me last summer when they came to LA to attend a Bank of America loan modification event for homeowners. They’d been thought it all and then some and understandably they didn’t know who to trust or listen to about anything… which is the real tragedy gong on today. As if the banks and servicers themselves weren’t enough. Anyway, I really enjoyed talking with them over the several months I was helping them understand and get through the process, and I couldn’t be happier to receive their letter of thanks.
~~~
Dear Martin,
We are thrilled to be able to write about our experience with you and your informative website, Mandelman Matters. We were a borrower in good standing and applied to Bank of America for a loan modification to assist us during a period of income reduction due to the national economic crisis occurring from 2008 to-date.
We had been in an arduous, circular process submitting application, financial statements, HAMP, HARP, Dodd-Frank and numerous other bureaucratic forms to faceless loan modification counselors who demonstrated no ability or interest in working with us. We were constantly put- off, delayed and then declined by form letter. We wanted to fight for our home to receive what we considered to be an equitable loan in the current market.
After a series of automated loan modification declines, un-merited insufficient NPV rejections and threats of foreclosure from numerous legal entities, we were fed up but not done. My wife had been feverishly researching on the Internet regarding the loan modification process, reading blogs, and trying to get a feel if this was really worth fighting for after months of going in circles.
We talked to “experts” and were solicited by numerous lawyers, realtors and private loan modification consultants who assured us we could succeed…if we were to pay them a sizable sum in advance and relinquish control of our loan application. We did not do this. Instead, we continued to seek advice from our financial advisor and scoured the Internet for economic- academic advice, thinking this might bring us in touch with someone with knowledge, connections and passion to simply help a homeowner. We talked to a lot of jokers but one day, my wife had found the website of Mandelman Matters and felt that Martin knew his stuff and that is when our situation changed dramatically.
After a series of lengthy and supportive phone calls with Martin, we knew we had met someone who gave a damn and knew what needed to be known. Within two weeks of providing some basic information to Martin, he informed us of where he would present our application. A week later, we had been re-assigned to a new home loan modification manager. Here we were treated professionally and learned that we could speak and even email with our counselor at any time and be assured of a full response or follow-up call within 24 hours.
From this time forward, we continued to follow guidelines to ensure our application would be received complete and remain current as it made its way through the review, underwriting and modification assessment processes. We did our part and made the calls, submitted the required documents and formed a very pleasant and productive relationship with our loan modification counselor. He explained to us the role of his department and it was clear to us that without Martin’s guidance. Knowledge, and expertise, it would have been highly unlikely for us to be reassigned to this department.
Within 90 days, we were informed that a trial loan modification would be offered to us. We were elated!! A month later we received this confirmation. We made the trial payments on time, conducted our bi-weekly calls with our loan modification counselor and followed other guidance and encouragement from Martin. Three months later, we received our new and handsomely modified home loan on which we are now very happily making timely payments.
Thank you Martin in helping us to secure a favorable home loan modification with Bank of America by qualifying our intentions, commitment and ability to meet the new loan obligations as well as assist us to elevate our application to a senior level management home loan team. This made our loan modification possible and easy. We want to acknowledge your expertise of our nation’s economy, the practices and complexities of mortgage lending and especially thank you for your compassion and support for us.
Trying to succeed in getting a loan medication? Priceless. Yes, Martin did not charge us a penny!! Fighting for our house has been the hardest task to date for the both of us, it tested every emotion unimaginable.
But Martin was awesome! I can testify that Martin spends 24/7 on the phone with thousands of homeowners and if his process of getting loans modified could be a building block, well it sure would make a positive difference in the modification loan world.
Sincerely,
Ecstatic in San Clemente, CA