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Making Homes Affordable - First Hand Experience Part IV
After many phone calls and emails I was finally able to knock some heads and get some straight answers about how Wells Fargo is allowed to report our mortgage status to the credit bureaus. The bottom line is that they CAN report to the credit agency’s that our mortgage is being modified which will impact our credit rating by a few points. They CAN NOT report our mortgage as delinquent as long as we are current on our payments and adhere to the terms of the trial period.
What did I have to do to make sure Wells Fargo was abiding by the rules setup by the government?
I called my US Congressman Walt Minnick (ID) 208-888-3188 and talked with his representative Beverly Bean. I explained our situation and faxed the documentation provided by Wells Fargo to her so that she could do some leg work for us. In addition to calling Wells Fargo she also contacted the US Department of the Treasury, Malloy Evans 202-422-8135. Turns out that Wells Fargo was NOT abiding by the rules set forth by the government and now my US Congressman and the Department of the Treasury are making sure they are in fact playing by the rules.
I received assurances by my Congressman and the Dept of Treasury that my mortgage Would NOT be reported as delinquent as long as I made our payments in full and on time. In addition, I received a phone call and apology from Wells Fargo/Freddie Mac indicating their Making Homes Affordable documentation will be updated appropriately.
Again, I think to myself (and to all of you) that this process is made too complicated and overwhelming so that people won’t be able to take advantage of something that is bought and paid for with tax dollars. However, we are going forward and taking that next step into the Making Homes Affordable Program.
What is next on the list?
- Make our first trial period payment.
- Trial period documentation signed and sent in.
- Hardship Affidavit *This is similar to previous hardship letter sent in to Wells Fargo/Freddie Mac.
- Signed and dated copy of IRS Form 4506-T
- Copy of all income statements (pay stub, social security, disability, pension, public assistance, unemployment, alimony/child support, etc)
- Counseling session with HUD-approved housing counseling agency *This is FREE
- www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/
- HOPE Hotline 1-888-995-HOPE
- I chose this option because I could just call and it only took 45 minutes. They gave me some good information and I thought it would be beneficial to share with you.
FREE Help with Medical Expenses
1-573-996-3333 *I don’t know the details of this service but its worth checking out if you have medical expenses you can’t afford.
Angel Food Ministries 1-877-366-3646 www.angelfoodministries.com
They sell food at discounted prices.
This is going to hurt me, more than its going to hurt you. Making Homes Affordable Program Part III
Making Homes Affordable Program: First Hand Experience
How To Get 2% Interest Rate on 30 Year Mortgage
http://www.financialstability.gov/
This is going to hurt me, more than its going to hurt you. Making Homes Affordable Program Part III
For those of us that had the privileged of spankings as a kid probably remember their parent saying something like “this is going to hurt me more than its going to hurt you”. This of course wasn’t entirely true however there is some solace in hearing those words. This phrase sprang to my mind when I realized that I was about to bend over and take my proverbial spanking from the bank and be grateful for it.
After months of calling weekly, checking the website and waiting patiently we finally got word that we were approved for the Making Homes Affordable program. What was advertised as being a 45-60 day process turned into well over 120 days. Thankfully we are very mindful of our finances and were able to keep up with our monthly responsibilities. I do however recognize and feel a great burden on those who are in a more dire situation than ours and had to wait as long as we did. Part of me believes that the banks are purposely taking their sweet time deciding on the fates of these families in hopes that they become delinquent on their loans and thus become ineligible for the Making Homes Affordable program.
We quickly looked over the documentation and were very happy to see that Wells Fargo/Freddie Mac had tentatively modified our loan by almost $500 a month. I say “tentatively” because there is a 3 month trial period to ensure you make your payments, comply with any other request like talking with a credit counselor and the bank can review your updated financials during this time to make sure you still qualify. All the information seemed straight forward and was like a burden had been lifted.
BUT, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Every page of the 23 page packet emphasized that we were on a time line and had less than a week to accept the offer. Naturally, I was eager to sign and see the benefits of our lower mortgage payment. I started reading through the fine print to make sure we did everything correctly so we weren’t hindering the process. On a page titled “important programing info” it highlights how the program works and at the bottom of the page the final bullet read:
“CREDIT REPORTING. During the trial period, we will report your loan as delinquent to the credit reporting agencies even if you make your trial period payments on time. However, after your load is modified, we will only report the loan as delinquent if the modified payment is not received in a timely manner.”
This made my blood boil! In order to qualify for the Making Homes Affordable program you could NOT be delinquent but now that we were approved, we would HAVE to be delinquent in order to get our mortgage modified. Essentially this is what was going to happen. Let’s just say our original mortgage was for $2000 a month. For the trial period they asked that we pay $1500 and even if we pay the $1500 on time and complete, we would be reported to the credit agency’s as delinquent because our current mortgage is still at $2000 a month.
I called the number provided so that I could ask a few questions and make sure I was reading this clear. The Wells Fargo representative indicated I was correct in my assumption and if I attempted to pay the difference so that our payment wouldn’t be delinquent they would not approve us for the mortgage modification. She said “would you like 3 months of hurting your credit score or 27 years of lowering your mortgage payment”. She also said that if we did not agree to the terms and have the paper work back by September 1st we would never have to opportunity to apply for the Making Homes Affordable program again.
I then call Equifax credit agency and ask what they would 3 months of reporting “delinquent” do to our credit rating. He indicated this would affect our credit rating and could drop our rating as much as 100 points. A drop in credit score like this could be financial suicide.
Three years ago we bought a house we could afford and got a traditional 30 year fix loan. We paid 25% down and were very comfortable with our financial situation. Now, our house has depreciated almost 30%, we are down one income and we can’t qualify for a traditional refinance because of the value of our home and the state of the economy. The offer from Wells Fargo/Freddi Mac is essentially black mail but like many others we are at their mercy. We will more than likely agree to the offer on the table but I don’t have to like it and I certainly won’t be quiet about it.
It is clear to me that the banks don’t want to use this government funded program to help people keep their homes. If they did then, there would be more than only 9% of all people that have applied for this government funded program being approved. And for that sorry 9%, they will ruin their credit, lock them in a loan they will never get out of because no other bank will approve of a loan recipient that has been delinquent on a mortgage loan.
On the upside, if you own any Wells Fargo stock you will be happy to know that it is on the rise…
Want to read more:
Making Homes Affordable Program: First Hand Experience
How To Get 2% Interest Rate on 30 Year Mortgage
http://www.financialstability.gov/
Great Deal On Stay-cation 5th Person FREE $750 ALL-INCLUSIVE
I love the great outdoors and with our budget even tighter this year we will be taking advantage of local staycations. Not only are staycations convenient but they can be very economical.
| “A staycation (or stay-cation, or stacation) is a neologism for a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home and relaxes at home or takes day trips from their home to area attractions. Staycations have achieved high popularity in current hard economic times in which unemployment levels and gas prices are high.” |
I contacted a highly recommended white water river outfitter and negotiated a great price for a group (12-19) of us to experience an all-inclusive 3 day white water experience. I was so impressed with our trip and the great deal we got I couldn’t keep this to myself. For MomsFirstStop.com readers, this summer ONLY, I negotiated a sweet staycation:
–
Jacob & Tricia Warren, Owners
North Star River Expeditions, Inc.
PO Box 906
McCall, ID 83638
208-634-2296
877-610-3200
Take Your Kids to the Movies For FREE
REG’s Free Family Film Festival is Now Showing!
When school’s out, kids around the country visit selected Regal theatres for the Free Family Film Festival. It’s a fun-filled nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Since 1991, Regal has provided this service to the community, and best of all it’s FREE!
Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.
Tickets for our 2009 Free Family Film Festival are exclusively available at select theatres’ box office on the day of the show.
You can also select a state from the link below to find participating theatres in your area along with what films are playing each week!
http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx?state=ID
| Boise Downtown Stadium 9 760 Broad Street Boise ,ID 83702 208-338-7465 |
|
| 06/23/2009-06/24/2009 | Space Chimps (G) |
| Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG) | |
| 06/30/2009-07/01/2009 | Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G) |
| Evan Almighty (PG) | |
| 07/07/2009-07/08/2009 | Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G) |
| Nim’s Island (PG) | |
| 07/14/2009-07/15/2009 | Horton Hears A Who (G) |
| Inkheart (PG) | |
| 07/21/2009-07/22/2009 | The Tale Of Despereaux (G) |
| Kung Fu Panda (PG) | |
| 07/28/2009-07/29/2009 | Everyone’s Hero (G) |
| Surf’s Up (PG) | |
| 08/04/2009-08/05/2009 | All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (G) |
| Journey To The Center Of The Earth (PG) | |
| 08/11/2009-08/12/2009 | Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (G) |
| Bee Movie (PG) | |
| Check for regular Movies and Showtimes | |
| Boise Stadium 22 & IMAX 7701 W Overland Road Boise ,ID 83709-1628 208-377-9603 |
|
| 06/23/2009-06/25/2009 | Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G) |
| Evan Almighty (PG) | |
| 06/30/2009-07/02/2009 | Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G) |
| Nim’s Island (PG) | |
| 07/07/2009-07/09/2009 | Horton Hears A Who (G) |
| Inkheart (PG) | |
| 07/14/2009-07/16/2009 | The Tale Of Despereaux (G) |
| Kung Fu Panda (PG) | |
| 07/21/2009-07/23/2009 | Everyone’s Hero (G) |
| Surf’s Up (PG) | |
| 07/28/2009-07/30/2009 | All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (G) |
| Journey To The Center Of The Earth (PG) | |
| 08/04/2009-08/06/2009 | Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (G) |
| Bee Movie (PG) | |
| 08/11/2009-08/13/2009 | Mr. Bean’s Holiday (G) |
| Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG) | |
| Check for regular Movies and Showtimes | |
Father’s Day Freebies & Fun
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to show the dad in your life how much you love and appreciate them. Take the time this Sunday and treat the dad in your life to something special. Here are just a few ideas that won’t hurt your wallet BUT will share some love.
Free Cone at TCBY
At certain http://www.tcby.com/ (say it with us…only some locations…) Dads are entitled to a free cone or cup full of tasty frozen yogurt! Call ahead to be sure that your location is participating, then head on over on June 21!
Free Entrée at T.G.I. Friday’s
Through June 22 you can take Dad out for lunch or dinner and get his meal free. Friday’s has a http://www.tgifridays.com/ entrée coupon that will entitle you to a free entrée.
Free $10 Gift Card
For Father’s Day you can take Pop to Outback and choose from a special new menu of 15 meals under $15. What’s even better is that at the end of the meal Dad will walk away with a free $10 gift card to use on his next trip. http://www.outback.com/foodandmenus/fathersday2009.aspx
Carinos Italian http://www.playpick2.com/ Win free food instantly.
Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekendhttp://www.wendys.com/
| Saturday, June 20 – Sunday, June 21, 2009 |
| Fifty cents from every Frosty sold will be donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Patrons have the option of purchasing a Frosty pin up for $1 or creating a Father’s Day eCard at FrostyCard.com and 50¢ of each design will benefit the DTFA. |
Father’s Day Ride & BBQ
| ww.highdeserthd.com |
|
Live Music, BBQ, Free Bike Wash & a Father’s Day Ride! |
| Saturday, June 20, 2009, 9am – 6pm |
| High Desert Harley-Davidson 2310 E. Cinema Dr. Meridian, ID 83642 |
Woodriver Cellars Father’s Day BBQ www.woodrivercellars.com
|
Bring dad out to Woodriver Cellars on Sunday, June 21st for a low key BBQ and fun activities, including Bocce Ball, fishing at our pond, and live music performed by The B3 Side. No admission charge, so bring the whole family! |
CVS.com coupon: Free 8×10″ print CVS Photo Center offers an http://www.cvsphoto.com/home.aspx for free via coupon code “FREE8X10″. That’s the best such offer we’ve seen from CVS. Shipping adds 99 cents or opt for free in-store pickup. Coupon ends June 21.
Economy Giving You Bad Hair?
If you are sporting the “haggard house wife” look because its too expensive to keep up on your personal maintenance you can officially take your hair out of that pony tail and follow me to a local Spa-lon offering economy busting deals. As always, great news from MomsFirstStop.com deals department. I just found out that my favorite salon is now opening under a new name, JMZ Spa-lon. It is a full service salon and spa with most of their employees having 15+ years of experience. I have been going to Teresa (my hair stylist) for almost 10 years now and she is fantastic!
JMZ Spa-lon’s is now offering several awesome deals for all of your personal maintenance needs. Give them a call to make your appointment. 208-853-6299 5907 W. State St. Boise, Id
$109 Stimulus package:1 hour massage, 1 hour facial, manicure and pedicure
April is offering a $25 pedicure
Dotty is offering $40 mani/pedi and full set of nails w/ free fill $50
Kim is offering $39 1 hour massage with a $10 off coupon with first visit
Britta is offering $40 Brazilian wax, 1 hour facial $35, air brush tan full body $35, teeth whitening starting at $49, lash and brow tinting $30
Tina is offering an anti-oxidant facial $33, derma-sound facial $42,
AND
All Hair stylists are offering $10 hair cut for new clients.
**If you have a great deal on a product or service and would like to share it with momsfirststop.com readers please email me angela@momsfirststop.com**
FREE 8X10 Print Wednesday ONLY
Walgreens is giving away a free 8X10 print on Wednesday, May 6th.
Redeem NOW Enter coupon code MOTHER at checkout. No obligation to purchase and limited to one per customer.
Happy Mother’s Day from MomsFirststop.com
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
It was a privileged and a gift to speak with Coach Kris Hogan. A gift and a privileged that I decided to share with you by allowing you access to hear my conversation with Coach Hogan. Unfortunately, there were several people that after listening and reading my blog (This I Believe) decided to write hateful and hurtful things Coach Kris Hogan. This man has shown so much love and compassion to others and in turn certain individuals beat him down with their words. Its shameful! In order to prevent Coach Hogan more grief I have decided to restrict the audio file of our conversation. If you would like to hear our conversation please email me letting me know your interest. I would also like to ask all of you who have been touched by Coach Kris Hogan to email me with your words of love and encouragement. angela@momsfirststop.com
This I Believe. A Story of Hope for ALL of Us.
What is love and why do we believe in it even though we can touch it, taste it or even smell it? It is the most precious resource we have and yet it can’t be bought or sold. As humans we instinctively know love when we see it, hear it and feel it. We know what it is because it is apart of our DNA, we were designed to give and receive love. Regardless of your beliefs or background we all can acknowledge that love is something greater than ourselves. God is the source of love and when we are in the presence of love we are also in the presence of God. This I believe, this I know to be true.
Those of you who know me, know that I am a believer. I’m not big into proselytizing but I do like sharing a conversation about my love for the Lord with those who choose to ask or bring it up in conversation. I have a relationship with God, I speak with Him daily and I try to quiet myself to hear Him. My daily prayer is to do His will and be His servant. I fail in a lot of ways, I fall short, but God knows my heart and I try to do better. He loves us, despite our mistakes and gives us hope for something more wonderful than we could imagine. I think that is why when I heard the story about Coach Kris Hogan “A Game of Hope” I cried. Here is a group of kids, incarcerated for doing terrible things and yet Coach Hogan and his school chose to show them love and give them hope.
Here are a few video clips and an article about this story:
A Game of Hope http://www.nbcdfw.com/sports/football/A_Game_of_Hope_Dallas-Fort_Worth.html
Rooting For The Opposition http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3869868
Life of Reilly “There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.” http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373
As you can imagine this story touch a lot of people and Coach Kris Hogan was inundated with emails and phone calls. One email from a reporter from “This American Life”, in particular touched his heart and his story was quickly picked up by National Public Radio with a segment on This American Life called “This I used to believe”.
Here is that radio program:
This American Life “This I Used To Believe”
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=378
After hearing that story I was so moved that I wrote an email to Coach Hogan.
Here is an excerpt of my email:
“I’m certain you’ve received more email that you could possible read or respond too but I still felt compelled to write to you and let you know what your seemingly small Christ inspired act of hope has grown into something much larger that only God could have designed.
I actually just heard of your beautiful and inspiring story about giving hope to that boys football team that everyone but God had given up on. That story alone brought tears to my eyes because I could feel Gods presence in that moment. What was more amazing to me was that National Public Radio “This American Life” picked up your story as well, as part of their “this I used to believe” segment (God works in amazing ways). More specifically the tiny seed you planted was growing inside Trisha Sebastian that had seemingly lost her faith. I could tell that both of you were a little frustrated. She wanted some answers from you that would explain the death of her friend. AND you, you knew God wanted to work through you in her.
You did a beautiful job executing His will and I want you to know that you did it complete and according to His will. Don’t think for a moment that you failed because she didn’t believe after the time you spent with her. You planted a seed in her (I could feel the Holy Spirit working in her) and more importantly you also planted a seed to all of those listeners that were without hope.
I enjoy listening to the stories on “This American Life” but I do realize that it is a very liberal publication and they pride themselves on being agnostic and even make fun of Christian beliefs. I find so much comfort and joy that God used you and your testimony to witness to millions of unbelievers. There is so much hopelessness and despair in today’s world; my heart is heavy for those who don’t have hope in Him. Through you God brought light where there was none and I thank you for being his vessel.”
I was having a pretty tough day when I received an email from Kris asking to have a phone conversation with me. (God knows what we need, when we need it!) I’m still not sure what God’s purpose is for me in all of this is but I do know that I have to share this story. Our country and the world is suffering in many ways. There are so many people that are hurting, that are hopeless, and need to know they are loved despite their failures. We can all have that hope, that love, its free and unconditional. This I Believe, this I know to be true.
Skinny Jean Challenge MonaVie March - Week 2
After two weeks on the Skinny Jean Challenge (using MonaVie) I have noticed a few changes. Taking the MonaVie twice daily has made me more “regular” (meaning I poo 2-3 times daily). I’ve been exercising twice a week for an hour which, I know isn’t enough but I’m limited to when I have childcare. I’ve lost 3 pounds and my pants feel slightly looser. My energy level is about the same but I’m still getting up twice a night with the baby and there is no replacement for a good nights sleep.
I like the routine of taking 2 ounces of juice first thing in the morning and 2 ounces at 3pm. I usually don’t get to eat until after I get all three kids up, fed and ready for the day which means it can be as late as 11am before I get to eat anything. Such is the life of a mom. I know it sounds weird but that 2 ounces of juice actually gives me the energy to get what I need done in the morning with out being completely ravished. I take another 2 ounce shot of juice at 3pm which is when I start to hit the wall. That little shot is a great pick me up for me to complete the rest of the day.
My thoughts on MonaVie thus far: I do think its a great product and I have felt a slight improvement but I think you could see the same improvements just by eating nutritious food that are full of antioxidants like blueberries, broccoli, tomatoes, red grapes, garlic, tea, spinach, soy, and whole grains. If you lead a busy life and don’t, won’t, or can’t eat healthy I think taking MonaVie twice a day is a delicious, easy way to improve your nutritional intake, health, and energy.
If you are interested in getting a discount on MonaVie you can sign up as a distributor for free. *free enrollment for all new distributors through March 31, 2009.*
What am I doing for the Skinny Jean Challenge?
1. Exercise - I’ve been hiking the local trails twice a week. It takes about an hour to get up and down the hill. This is great cardio and strength training on butt, legs and stomach. I take the kids on a walk when the weather is nice and if the weather isn’t we’ve been having dance parties inside.
2. Food - I’ve been eating 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of veggies a day. Also trying to increase protein intake by having hard boiled eggs available as a quick snack.
3. MonaVie - 2 ounces twice a day.
I’m not depriving myself of any types of food. Also, I’m not limiting calorie intake since I’m still breastfeeding. I’m just trying to eat more consciously and exercise when I can.
Want to read more:
- Your Brain Is Making a Fool Out of You
- Skinny Jean Challenge with MonaVie March
- Top 10 Antioxidant Foods
- email me if you want to try some of the dinner recipes I’ve been using angela@momsfirststop.com