Help for Mortgages held at JPMorgan Chase

Do you have a mortgage with Chase Bank, Wamu, or EMC? Are you having trouble making your mortgage payment? Chase is opening a Homeownership Center in Glendale at 400 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 120, phone (818) 548-2280. The center will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

 

“We created these local Homeownership Centers as a place for our borrowers to sit down and discuss their situation face-to-face with trained loan advisors in these challenging times,” said David Schneider, head of mortgage servicing at Chase. “They are part of a wide-ranging initiative to help families stay in their homes whenever possible.”

 

“During these tough economic times, it is the responsibility of leaders in government and the private sector to do everything within their power to help residents and get homeowners back on-track,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “I can only hope that banks and lenders of every stripe follow (Chase’s) suit and offer services to protect our residents.”

 

This Center will offer:

- Trained advisors. To assist customers whose circumstances have changed and are no longer able to make their scheduled monthly payment, who want to avoid foreclosure and stay in their home. The trained advisors will evaluate their finances, review possible workout options and answer any questions.

- Scheduled appointments. To reduce wait time, customers are encouraged to set up an appointment in advance. They should bring documentation, including recent W-2s and tax forms, recent pay stubs and bank statements and monthly expense documentation. Also, they should bring any information, such as a hardship letter, that will help explain their current financial challenges.

- A track record of helping. Since 2007, Chase has helped prevent 330,000 foreclosures of Chase, WaMu and EMC loans, primarily by reducing interest rates, extending the term of the loans and providing principal deferral. In late 2008, Chase announced initiatives designed to help a total of more than 650,000 families, and expects to modify more than $110 billion of home loans.

 

Customers who would like to receive more information can call 1-866-550-5705. For the complete article, check out http://rismedia.com/2009-02-13/chase-opens-four-homeownership-centers-in-los-angeles-orange-and-san-bernardino-counties/.

 

Here’s my 2 cents: loan modifications start with your lender, not with some company who charges you a fee. Be very careful if you are solicitated by someone other than your own lender to change the terms of your loan. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. There are a lot of people out there who are preying on the unfortunate.

If you are not in financial trouble but you are upset because you don’t think it’s fair that you should pay more for your house than the guy that just bought the ratty foreclosure down the street, these counselors are not going to help you. But you also should watch out for the scammers, because they will appeal to your sense of unfairness and you are likely to have more money to lose than the desperate people about to lose their homes.