How to write a hard ship letter

borac
borac Posts: 174
edited September 2024 in Chit-Chat
Hi everyone..

As i 'm unemployed right now.. and can't pay my morgage.. my bank wants me to write a
" hardship letter " ..

any one familiar with that.. what should i write down.. do they want me to whine in the letter till they get sick of me to tell them " i can't afford groceries for months now, i have been borrowing money from friends and family to pay my bills.. we don't go out or order in anything- ever.. in the last 15-16 months.. my kids wear socks with holes in them.. and shoes that should have been replaced months ago..

Or do they mean something else.. i mean that situation i just described IS my situation.. but i just wanted to hear from other people, esp, if you have some expr. with this stuff.. thx

Replies

  • borac
    borac Posts: 174
    Hi everyone..

    As i 'm unemployed right now.. and can't pay my morgage.. my bank wants me to write a
    " hardship letter " ..

    any one familiar with that.. what should i write down.. do they want me to whine in the letter till they get sick of me to tell them " i can't afford groceries for months now, i have been borrowing money from friends and family to pay my bills.. we don't go out or order in anything- ever.. in the last 15-16 months.. my kids wear socks with holes in them.. and shoes that should have been replaced months ago..

    Or do they mean something else.. i mean that situation i just described IS my situation.. but i just wanted to hear from other people, esp, if you have some expr. with this stuff.. thx
  • amylynne26
    amylynne26 Posts: 195 Member
    hey borac... sorry to hear about your situation. I just got laid off too so I can relate!

    I think the terms of your letter need to be related to hard figures - my average income until (date) as ($x) allowing me to pay my mortage of ($y). Since being laid off (date) my income is now (zero, or any unemployment, etc). Are they looking for any kind of future commitment?
  • stahlight
    stahlight Posts: 119
    Well,

    I havent paid my mortgage in 120 days (90 late) -- i have no income and i am in an area where unemployement is probably 15%+... so let me render some advice, free of charge :bigsmile:


    A hardship letter should reveal as little as possible - i never like to play my cards up front. Google a hardship letter for a template and state only the facts that are needed.

    Second, fill out paperwork for a short sale on the house -- even if you dont intend to short sale it. This makes your case have a higher priority to the bank because you're taking the initiative.

    Beyond this, there isnt a lot you can do. A number of banks have taken govt money and still wont lend or modify loans, even though it was a term of their bailout. It sucks for a lot of us right now.

    It goes without saying, prioritize your bills in the order of Food, Electricity and Water, Car and Ins. and dont pay a cent to the mortgage until its resolved.

    My $0.02... no wait i am broke, dont have $0.02
  • nitag
    nitag Posts: 706 Member
    Hi everyone..

    As i 'm unemployed right now.. and can't pay my morgage.. my bank wants me to write a
    " hardship letter " ..

    any one familiar with that.. what should i write down.. do they want me to whine in the letter till they get sick of me to tell them " i can't afford groceries for months now, i have been borrowing money from friends and family to pay my bills.. we don't go out or order in anything- ever.. in the last 15-16 months.. my kids wear socks with holes in them.. and shoes that should have been replaced months ago..

    Or do they mean something else.. i mean that situation i just described IS my situation.. but i just wanted to hear from other people, esp, if you have some expr. with this stuff.. thx

    go to www.loansafe.org

    they have all the contact info as well as example hardship letters.
    My lender is Litton and I was able to get a loan modifiaction from them from 12% to 6.75 % last year. Lowered my payment by $1200 - Woo Hoo.. But now my husband is unemployed:explode: and I am not making my March payment but will pay in April. Unemployment just isn't enough..:sad: :sad: :sad:
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Well,

    I havent paid my mortgage in 120 days (90 late) -- i have no income and i am in an area where unemployement is probably 15%+... so let me render some advice, free of charge :bigsmile:


    A hardship letter should reveal as little as possible - i never like to play my cards up front. Google a hardship letter for a template and state only the facts that are needed.

    Second, fill out paperwork for a short sale on the house -- even if you dont intend to short sale it. This makes your case have a higher priority to the bank because you're taking the initiative.

    Beyond this, there isnt a lot you can do. A number of banks have taken govt money and still wont lend or modify loans, even though it was a term of their bailout. It sucks for a lot of us right now.

    It goes without saying, prioritize your bills in the order of Food, Electricity and Water, Car and Ins. and dont pay a cent to the mortgage until its resolved.

    My $0.02... no wait i am broke, dont have $0.02

    with all due respect...be careful about filling out paperwork for a short sale...if they call your bluff,,,it isnt a valid excuse to say you were bluffing,,,,imho...very dangerous advice,,,,no offense Stahlight,:smile:
  • Jackie_W
    Jackie_W Posts: 1,676 Member
    In my experience, paying some of your mortgage, even if it's only a 3rd, is far better than paying none!
    I've been off sick now for 9 weeks, and only get like a quarter of my usual wage - so I understand how tight things are :flowerforyou:
    My mortgage lender have been arseholes , threatening repossession for not paying just for one month, but...if I pay what I can, they look more favourably at our circumstances, by doing this, I have kept them off our backs for the past 3 months :wink:
    You could always ask your bank what they mean by a hardship letter, tell them you've not been in this situaton before, they will help you where possible :flowerforyou:

    Good luck
    Jackie
  • Jackie_W
    Jackie_W Posts: 1,676 Member
    As for sale side of things, I agree with Dave198lbs, be very careful, not only that, if you do end up selling cos the bank called your bluff, its even more risky - what with recession, property prices are going through the floor.
    Just have to hang on in there and try to meet the bank half way :flowerforyou:
  • nitag
    nitag Posts: 706 Member
    Also with a short sale you have to already have your property listed for a certain amount of time before most lenders will even consider it...

    Now with my lender they won't take partial payments.. I mailed them 1500 and they mailed it right back.. They want the whole 2551.80 so make sure you call them and see what they say. Sometimes they will keep it and just hold it in suspense.. So make sure you call them. ...
  • stahlight
    stahlight Posts: 119
    I agree short sale is a risky avenue (thus it is advice) -- but i say it in this consideration:

    + If the bank calls the bluff, they still need an offer to complete a short sale. There has to be a buyer.
    + A short sale is less damaging than a foreclosure.
    + Your house has already lost value, how much time will it take to recover? Is it worth the money?
    + Is losing it worth the 5-7 years of bad credit? (counterpoint)

    What I should have originally put, is contact a professional if you can - they will know much more.

    @nitag: my lender wont take either -- they push it into an escrow account and wont even mark the account as paid in part. In essence, i am losing the money i send to them -- thus my advice to quit paying altogether.

    @JackieW: dont let them bluff you. They can file foreclosure papers after 90 days. It will be fully 6 months after that, that a full foreclosure will happen. Many lenders are trying threatening measures to try to scare people into paying. They have asked me if I can borrow money from family to pay them. They told me they would "ruin my credit". All bluffs to try to squeeze money out. I tend to become rude at that point as well lol :blushing:

    Will be praying for all of you!
  • nitag
    nitag Posts: 706 Member
    stahlight, I agree with "They can file foreclosure papers after 90 days. It will be fully 6 months after that, that a full foreclosure will happen. Many lenders are trying threatening measures to try to scare people into paying. They have asked me if I can borrow money from family to pay them. They told me they would "ruin my credit". All bluffs to try to squeeze money out. I tend to become rude at that point as well"

    A lot of us are just going to have to struggle and each and everyone of us has a different situation.. I am hoping that my husband will find work and all will be fine but inside it's killing me. The thought of losing my home.. Uggg can't think about it.. Makes me cry.. Oh well.. what do ya do........
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    What happened to me:

    we used chapter 11 bankruptcy to prolong the process. we filed, it freezes the whole debt situation, you get a payment plan. if you can stick to the plan, cool- you're out. we couldn't. we re-filed chapter 11 again. then you get another new timeline. if you can pay that-cool. we still couldn't. after awhile of not receiving payments, the chapter 11 gets dismissed, and you have to either re-file, pay up, or get out. we did this a total of three times. it bought us 18 months more in the house. we eventually did lose the house, but we did not pay anything to the mortgage company for 2 years (in all) before we actually had to leave. and since it was the first and only loan against the property, the foreclosure was satisfied by us moving out and surrendering the property. meaning we walked away without a house, but we owed nothing.

    of course this damaged our credit, and we did eventually lose the house, but as a stopgap measure, it served the purpose of us not being homeless.

    if we had the ability to catch up, it would've been a useful way to just buy time. in our case, we could not catch up.
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