Can we get a little more detail on the content of the letter? Did you really "just ask?," or was there a somewhat subtle or very overt notice that without a refi, they may have another foreclosure or BK'd borrower on their hands?

Was it a full refi (30 years from now to pay off), or just a rate adjustment?

I wonder if lenders are doing things like this to work their books: Look, we got a "bad" loan cleared off the books (possibly without showing a loss if the refi covered missed payments & accrued interest on the old loan), then add a new "good" loan (for now, anyway).

DavidScubadiver said:ArbolLoco, Kudos to you. First, you are representing your client or friend and did a wonderful thing.
Second, you are advising that people who are stuck at a high rate may be able to "refinance" without the cost of refinancing, just by writing a letter. That is wonderful news.

Heck, you might be able to play off of the $0 closing offer at BoA, and simply ask your current lender to refinance you in your letter, at $0. Maybe they will bite for whatever reason.

You are awesome. Now, if my mortgage was not at 5.5%, I'd get right on writing that letter. But I bow down to you, nonetheless. Nice nice nice.

no he is not saying to "just write a letter" he is saying to stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and lose 100-200 points on your credit score with a slight chance that the bank may possibly lower your rate. If they don't lower your rate you are screwed.

win333 said:Woodchuck312 said:DavidScubadiver said:ArbolLoco, Kudos to you. First, you are representing your client or friend and did a wonderful thing.
Second, you are advising that people who are stuck at a high rate may be able to "refinance" without the cost of refinancing, just by writing a letter. That is wonderful news.

Heck, you might be able to play off of the $0 closing offer at BoA, and simply ask your current lender to refinance you in your letter, at $0. Maybe they will bite for whatever reason.

You are awesome. Now, if my mortgage was not at 5.5%, I'd get right on writing that letter. But I bow down to you, nonetheless. Nice nice nice.

no he is not saying to "just write a letter" he is saying to stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and lose 100-200 points on your credit score with a slight chance that the bank may possibly lower your rate. If they don't lower your rate you are screwed.

But you can't figure out another way to get your score to drop that isn't perminent. Are you kettle or teapot?

Not sure where that is coming from but since you seem to be a guy who can talk the talk and walk the walk why don't you test out the theory and post the results for us big guy.

Stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and send a letter the bank(please post a copy for us to see too) and let us know the results and also your before credit score and after credit score.

win333 said:Woodchuck312 said:win333 said:Woodchuck312 said:DavidScubadiver said:ArbolLoco, Kudos to you. First, you are representing your client or friend and did a wonderful thing.
Second, you are advising that people who are stuck at a high rate may be able to "refinance" without the cost of refinancing, just by writing a letter. That is wonderful news.

Heck, you might be able to play off of the $0 closing offer at BoA, and simply ask your current lender to refinance you in your letter, at $0. Maybe they will bite for whatever reason.

You are awesome. Now, if my mortgage was not at 5.5%, I'd get right on writing that letter. But I bow down to you, nonetheless. Nice nice nice.

no he is not saying to "just write a letter" he is saying to stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and lose 100-200 points on your credit score with a slight chance that the bank may possibly lower your rate. If they don't lower your rate you are screwed.

But you can't figure out another way to get your score to drop that isn't perminent. Are you kettle or teapot?

Not sure where that is coming from but since you seem to be a guy who can talk the talk and walk the walk why don't you test out the theory and post the results for us big guy.

Stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and send a letter the bank(please post a copy for us to see too) and let us know the results and also your before credit score and after credit score.

Did you not read my earlier post about showing alot of AOR balances and trashing your score, THEN right the letter.

pay-off AOR and all is well, WHY are you POUNDING on OP. He didn't make the situation, he just let YOU and US know that there is possibly a way to get the refi done.

I have 3 of these LIAR loans, In the fine print, I paid 7 3/4 over my index on the 1st adjustment. I had no clue, I knew rates would be the same so I had nothing to worry about.

7 3/4 over the INDEX was highway robbery, I pay them on the 15th of every month and WILL NEVER pay them 1 minute early. My loan also has a cap per year the loan can increase BUT NOT FOR THE 1st INCREASE. The 1st INCREASE IS UNCAPPED, so my loan jumped from 7% to 14 1/2 on the 1st increase.

So if I can stick it to them I WILL, also now I have to many properties to be able to REFI. NO BANK will touch me over 10 properties. So the IDIOT who said " Just do a no fee REFI" has no clue how the system works.

Try to get a NO FEE refi if you've been late or can't requalify. I'm self-employed so the banks don't look at my REV. they want to see INCOME 300,000 per year REV isn't good enough to REFI me and save me 50% of my payment. I have a 750 FICO and about 60% LTV.

They're all a bunch of CROOKs, So I take there 0% and shuve it back up in them! I can borrow more money on 0% cards with NO DOCs than I can on a freakin income producing property.

Oh I see now. So we are the "idiots" because we are financially responsible with our money? lol ok.

I wasn't aware the banks forced you to take their loans. Did they put you in a choke hold and make you sign on the dotted line? You must have been much smarter than the rest of us and avoided reading the terms on your loans as well.

Don't worry i'm sure the gubbamint will bail you out of your stupidity with our money.

LordKronos said:As much as it pains me to agree with win333 and his tourettes ridden posts, did you even read what he was suggesting? He was saying rather than missing a few payment and harming your credit permanently, you could try to "damage" your credit with an App-O-Rama and then request the lower rate. They may see the low score and all the balances, conclude that you are about to BK, and give you a lower rate to mitigate the damage and try to keep you from defaulting.

Theres nothing wrong with simply asking for a lower rate, and there no harm to you (plus, you make $ on the AOR). Yeah, doing a straight up refi would be better, but that's not really an option for someone who is now upside down on their mortgage, or where one spouse lost a job and they can no longer meet the required debt-to-income ratio.

Well he wasn't asking me about his solution, he was asking why I was pounding on the OP and his theory. As far as I am concerned Win333's solution is much better than OP's and I'll give him that much credit. But this topic is not about that. It is about the absurd conclusion the OP has made from 1 person and suggesting that others should try it as well.

SnoopDoug said:ArbolLoco said:No fancy feat here, I just sent them a letter, and they immediately sent her back a form letter with the new rate offer... a savings of about $950/mo. just because we asked.



But...did the letter from Indymac have postage on it?

that's funny

Woodchuck312 said:lhendricks92 said:What's absurd about requesting a lower rate? Worst case - THEY KEEP THE RATE THE SAME.

Oh my god some people are so dense. For the 5th freakin time he is not just saying to request a lower rate. He is saying to stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and then request a lower rate.

Like, OMG, I'm so dumbbbb!

I agree that purposefully trying to trash your credit for the possibility of a rate reduction is a bad idea, but the message I'm taking from OP is this: If you know someone who has a high rate mortgage, it may be possible to negotiate a lower rate without refinancing. This is especially true if the mortgagee is showing signs of default. Regardless, OP is not an "idiot," and it costs nothing to try.

Personally, it will be a sad day when I make the last payment on my 4.625% fixed.

I am from the school of 'if you don't ask you don't get' This is a great time to work over the lenders. They would much rather take a reasonable rate on a high risk loan that is paying, then to have one more repo.

I am in Atlanta market, I am buyinr repos. I have ben working the banks over on the other end.

Woodchuck312 said:Well he wasn't asking me about his solution, he was asking why I was pounding on the OP and his theory.

you: stop paying your mortgage? thats a terrible idea
him: well...there might another way that doesn't involve missing a payment
you: well, if you are such a big guy, prove it. Stop paying your mortgage.

Besides, you seem pretty rough on the OP. Reread the OP. It doesn't say "hey everyone...heres how to save some money: stop paying and hope for a lower rate". It says "this worked for my client, so it might be worth it for others. Anyone else have any experience with something like this". He was merely providing a data point, hypothesizing that it might apply elsewhere, then asking for a discussion on the topic.

Woodchuck312 said:lhendricks92 said:What's absurd about requesting a lower rate? Worst case - THEY KEEP THE RATE THE SAME.

Oh my god some people are so dense. For the 5th freakin time he is not just saying to request a lower rate. He is saying to stop paying your mortgage for 2 months and then request a lower rate.

So come up with a better idea, instead of being a PITA! Why don't you try to help?