Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. How does your special workout program benefit me? 2. Will I have to pay back all those penalties and fees?
3. How long will it be before the workout is completed?
4. How much are your fees?
5. Must I have a job in order to qualify?
6. Is your workout program the same as a forebearance agreement?
7. How does my credit get better?
8. Why should I trust you?
9. What if I have no equity and want to sell my house?
10. What if I want to sell, but my house needs work?
11. Can I rent my house back after you buy it?
12. How do I get started?
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Q. How does HAA's special workout program benefit me?
A.
Three ways. HAA can 1) STOP your foreclosure once the bank sees we are
serious about doing a workout,2) Restructure your loan such that your
payments will essentially be the same, and 3) Give you a fresh start to
rebuild your credit.
Q. Will I have to pay back all those penalties and fees?
A.
It depends on what the bank or mortgage company will accept. Anything
is negotiable, but it's our experience that overdue payments, interest,
penalties, and attorney fees are seldom just dropped. Unlike a regular
forebearance where the fees are added on top of your regular monthly
payments, your new monthly payments negotiated by HAA will not be
significantly affected because the whole loan will be re-amortized as
if it were a new loan. Since - as in all long-term mortgages - you end
up paying off three times the cost of the house anyway, this addition
is negligible.
Q. How long will it be before the workout is completed?
A.
Once HAA has recieved all of your materials and information,
negotiations could take anywhere from two weeks to two months, with the
average time of negotiations at about a month. Most of the time,
however, the bank will stop foreclosure proceedings once HAA gets
involved.
Q. How much are your fees?
A.
There is NO CHARGE for phone and/or personal interviews or
consultations. Neither is there a fee or cost if we buy your house or
negotiate with the bank for a short sale discount. And there is no obligation or pressure from us to do anything.
If you qualify for the Special Workout program, a payment of $1500 is payable to the Homeowners Assistance Association (HAA)
for negotiations and other work done. There may also be another payment
requested to pay off your lender once negotiations are complete -
usually 20% of the amount in arrears. The HAA fee is payable in advance
and includes all paperwork processing, negotiations with the bank or
mortgage company on your behalf, up to final acceptance by both
parties. This payment, however, should be more than compensated by the
fact that your re-instatement and subsequent monthly payments will be
considerably lower than you would have otherwise paid. Should HAA spend
time on effort on negotiations and discover the bank/mortgage company
won't do a workout (for whatever reason), HAA will refund all monies
paid except for a $100 initial processing fee.
Q. Must I have a job in order to qualify?
A. No. However, you must have a source of regular income, whether it is from family, friends, self-employed business, investments, or private or government programs such as social security, disability, payments from a settlement, or other income. If you have no money and no income, there will be no incentive for the bank to work with us. We may then offer an alternative way to stop the foreclosure such as taking over the mortgage payments, along with the title. This will eliminate your problem and improve your credit.
Q. Is your workout program the same as a forebearance agreement?
A. No. When you sign a regular forebearance agreement with the bank, they will indeed agree to "work it out" with you by adding all the late payments, penalties, added interest, and attorney fees to the existing loan over the next year. This means that you are making payments each month that are 5-15% higher than before, and your credit will go downhill the whole time until the excess is paid off. That means your credit will not start improving for maybe a year or more! HAA's program is different; it allows you to improve your credit immediately while keeping your payments roughly the same as before.
Q. How does my credit get better?
A. HAA's Special Workout program will improve your credit directly by wiping out the current debt and restructuring the loan. It would be as if you went to another bank, qualified for a new refinancing loan, and paid off the existing mortgage. The only difference here is that you would never qualify for a new loan with another bank while you're in foreclosure. Your existing bank, however, may be willing to work something out since they have more at stake. We remind them of this possiblity and make it happen. No other program out there can offer what we offer . . . unless its through another HAA affiliate.
Q. Why should I trust you?
A. Good question, and one you need to ask of all people in the business of foreclosure assistance. Michael Craig and Global Property Services, Inc. are registered with the Better Business Bureau of Monroe County, TN. In addition, we at Foreclosure Doctors will accept no money from you. period. We get paid by Homeowners Assistance Association (HAA) for initial processing and follow-up of your case. HAA is a federally-approved non-profit educational organization dedicated to helping people in foreclosure to stay in their homes. We only collect checks and money orders made out directly to HAA and forward all such checks and paperwork to them. All fees, if any, will be clearly stated up front and you will never be charged for consultations or progress reports. HAA keeps you updated on the progress of your case, and we are always available to answer any questions you may have. Call or email us any time. You can read more about us at the HAA Website or contact Michael at Foreclosure Doctors if you have special needs or questions.
Q. What if I have no equity and want to sell my house?
A. While we know that HAA's program is the best, not everyone will qualify or want to stay in their homes. That's OK too. We can stop your foreclosure even if you have no equity and need to sell. If you live in the areas of Atlanta or SE Tennessee, for example, we can negotiate with the lender directly to "short sell" the house to us at a slight discount. We can then fix it up and either re-sell or rent it out. A short sale, however, normally takes about two months, so we need to decide quickly during our interview if this is the best way to go. If so, we will act immediately to put together and package and get the bank to send someone out for an appraisal to start the process. Once started, the lender will be much more likely to either speed up the negotiations, or stop the foreclosure in lieu of a settlement.
Q. What if I want to sell, but my house needs work?
A. Not a problem. We buy houses in any condition and can repair any problem, large or smal. (Note: right now we can buy houses only in the areas of Atlanta and SE Tennessee. More later.) If it is practical for us to catch up your payments and take over the mortgage, we can do that right away. If we need to negotiate with the lender to lower that amount, however, we will document the condition of the house and contact the lender to make an offer. Most lenders - once they know a house needs work - are usually willing to work with us to reduce the amount owned. It then becomes a win-win-win situation: you get your foreclosure stopped, the bank gets rid of a legal and repair headache, and we get a buying discount for our efforts.
Q. Can I rent my house from you after you buy it?
A. No. Usually we don't even keep the house, preferring instead to fix it up and resell it. It's also been our experience that people who can't qualify for a workout often continue to have financial problems. If you can't make your existing mortgage payments, how would you be able to pay more for rent or a lease option? You probably can't. Our suggestion is that you find an apartment or home you can afford right now until you start making more money. Reducing your expenses and increasing your income are the only two ways we know of that can get you out of trouble and put you back on your feet.
Q. How can I get started?
A. Go to the HAA website and fill out our "online application" (put "Craig" as Agent when asked). One of our specialists will contact you right away. After we've discussed your situation fully to get a better idea about the problem, we will offer several potential solutions. We don't have a canned answer to "How does your program work?" Our "program", so to speak, is simply to custom-design a plan based on your specific needs. Depending on the state your foreclosure was filed in, our response will be made according to those laws and statutes.
OUR GUARANTEE
We promise to do everything we can to help you stop your foreclosure and stay in your home. Failing that, we promise to make you a cash offer and/or negotiate a possible short sale with your lender. We have years and years of experience in real estate buying, selling, renovation, and working with banks and those in foreclosure. We guarantee that if we cannot help you, we will refund your money and offer our best recommendation for an alternative.
We also guarantee you will receive a response to your application within 24 hours and FREE CONSULTATION to determine your qualification for either our workout program or some other action. Should there be any fees involved, we will explain them all to you up front. If for some reason you don't qualify for our special workout program, we will make every effort to help you delay the foreclosure process, find a buyer for your house, or buy your house ourselves. If we can't help you - or time is too short - we will tell you right away and not waste your time. If possible, we will then refer you to someone who can possibly help you.
DISCLAIMER: We are not attorneys, nor do we offer legal services in any way. The information on this website, in person, or on the phone or fax is intended to inform and educate about a foreclosure workout service we provide through a non-profit agency and should never be construed as legal advice. Please consult your attorney for all legal matters.