Mortgage and Real Estate Blog

One of the most important things that you can focus on when you work with clients who are facing foreclosure is simple: you need to be sure that you are able to explain the benefits of having a loan audit performed. Simply put, by focusing on having a loan audit, you’ll be able to help your clients see the reality of their situation. Specifically, by having a loan audit performed, you will be able to have the opportunity to expose Truth in Lending Act violations.

Uncovering TILA violations with a mortgage audit is an essential part of the loan modification process. After all, each of these violations can be enough to make the mortgage that your clients have unenforceable. While this is the best reason to have a mortgage audit performed on your client’s loan paperwork, it’s also a great explanation to offer your clients when they are looking for a great way to stay in their homes.

Working with your clients when they are facing foreclosure can be extremely rewarding - especially when you are able to work out a mortgage modification that not only keeps them in their homes but that also enables them to have the advantage. In some cases, Truth in Lending Act violations, after all, are not only the prompt that lets your clients keep their homes, it also can also put some extra cash in their pockets and repair an injustice that was done to them. Without a loan audit, however, no one would have known the real extent of the situation.

When it comes to talk about the foreclosure crisis, there’s a lot of talk about loan modifications - there’s discussion of the government’s involvement in and encouragement of mortgage modifications along with talk about scams that some desperate home owners are falling victim to in an effort to keep their home; there’s less talk, however, about mortgage audits and the valuable service that they can provide.

Mortgage audits lead to more appropriate loan modifications. It sounds like a broad statement, but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. When your clients come to you because they are afraid of losing their homes, often they don’t remember the process of signing for their loan - they aren’t aware of specifics like whether or not all of the information that they provided was included on the form. Similarly, many home owners who are facing foreclosure are not aware of the fees that they paid and whether or not they were excessive.

When you are able to have a mortgage audit performed by a qualified, experienced loan auditor - someone who will go through the loan paperwork one line at a time and verify the information that’s included - you will be able to know what you’re working with. If you don’t know what terms must be modified (or, worse, that there were Truth in Lending Act or RESPA violations contained in the way the loan was set up), how can you be sure that you’re working out the best deal for your clients?

Keep in mind that there are plenty of mortgage companies who will work out a loan modification - but that doesn’t mean they’re thinking about your clients’ needs. The more that you’re able to look at the loan and to identify any issues, the more that you can be sure that you choose a loan modification option that is more appropriate for your clients and does more than just keep them in their homes.

When a client comes to you because they have heard that they are at risk for foreclosure (or the paperwork has been filed), it’s your responsibility to focus on keeping them in their homes. With a mortgage audit, you’ll find that you are in a position to do just that - and to know that you have kept them safe from scams that have been set up to take advantage of their position.

It’s hard not to take a look at the news and find information about scams that take advantage of home owners who are facing foreclosure. Whether it’s those who offer a loan modification that your clients will be forced to pay far too much for or it’s the sort of scam that asks your clients to give up the ownership of their home without fully realizing that that is what’s going on, loan modification scams are out there; fortunately, when clients come to you, you will be able to focus on their needs - both immediately and over the long term.

In the loan modification blog today, there was a great post about making sure your clients are safe from mortgage scams with a loan audit:

The mortgage audit is the real solution that will allow the client to use the necessary RESPA violations so that they can either pursue lender litigation or a loan modification of some sort. Carried out by the proper accredited professionals the mortgage audit is the legal vehicle that will help these people.

In other words, despite the number of scams that are out there, you will find that a loan audit will allow you to focus on working out the best arrangement for your clients.

Does your job involve focusing on helping to keep your clients in their homes when their mortgage lender is threatening foreclosure? If so, you are going to want to make sure that you are able to develop the right strategy for each client. A forensic loan audit is an essential early step in that process.

What you are going to find is that taking the time to choose a qualified mortgage auditor who will be able to take a closer look at each client’s loan is invaluable. By choosing a mortgage auditor who will manually perform a forensic loan audit - someone who isn’t going to rely on computer software or only the rules that are currently in place, someone who understands the mortgage industry and its regulations - you can learn exactly what it is that you are working with.

There are not going to be two cases in which your clients have loans that have identical issues; therefore, taking advantage of a forensic loan audit will ensure that you are able to choose the right strategy. In some cases, you will learn about RESPA violations; in others, the problem with the loan will involve the way in which the home was appraised. In either case (or in any other), you will be able to know how to work with the lender to work out a mortgage modification that benefits your clients.

The best way to stop foreclosure is to determine that a loan cannot be enforced; a forensic loan audit is the best way to determine that or, at the very least, to give you all the information that you need to do your best work for your clients.

When you work with clients who are facing foreclosure in an effort to keep them in their homes, a forensic loan audit is not just a step in the process - a forensic loan audit is among the most essential steps that you can take. There are a number of reasons for this, of course, but here are a few of the benefits as a reminder.

First and foremost, it is with a forensic loan audit that you will be able to understand any mis-steps taken by the mortgage lender or broker, whether or not that individual is associated with a bank. Because of this, you will know that you have ground to stand on when you approach the lender to work out a loan modification or, if it comes to it, you need to take the case to court (something that, hopefully, will be easier to do thanks to a bill introduced in the Senate that holds all mortgage lenders to the same standards as financial institutions).

Additionally, you will find that a forensic loan audit performed by a qualified loan auditor will enable you to ask your clients the right questions - questions about the loan application process and the way that the loan paperwork was completed. You’ll also find that you are able to ask the lender the right questions.

A forensic loan audit - a thorough review of mortgage loan paperwork that takes into consideration legislation that is in place now and legislation that was in effect at the time of the loan - enables you to move forward in the best way possible. In other words, a forensic loan audit will enable you to know that you are able to do more for your clients.

Clients who come to you because they are facing foreclosure are going to want to know that you’re doing everything that you can to help them stay in their homes. By making sure that you are not only having a mortgage audit performed, but also explaining the audit process, you can be sure that your clients are going to get the best information possible.

More importantly, you are going to fond that the more that you’re able to explore the mortgage audit process with your clients, the easier that it’s going to be for them to see the benefits.

Keep in mind though that not all of the mortgage audit process is simply a review of the actual loan paperwork. Part of the process of making sure that your clients received the right loan is about determining whether the pre-funding steps were completed correctly. Not only should you be sure that all of the loan paperwork was completed without error, but also you’re going to want to make sure that the verification process was completed correctly.

With verifications of gift letters, your client’s credit report, employment information, income verification, the amount that they had been paying in rent, and even property appraisals were accurate, you’ll be able to get a better sense of whether or not they were given the right mortgage initially. With that information, you’re going to find that you are better able to get a sense of what you can do to work with the lender.

If you’re working with your clients and want to be sure that you are able to help them stop the foreclosure process, then you are going to want to make sure that you have and understanding of the mortgage audit process. After all, it’s through a thorough mortgage audit that you are going to find out more about what’s underlying your client’s mortgage.

Not only will you want to be sure that you understand the mortgage audit process because it will be beneficial to you, but also you are going to want to be sure that you are able to explain that process to your clients. The best thing that you’re going to be able to do is to explain the following:

• A mortgage audit is going to let you see whether the information throughout the mortgage paperwork is consistent or has been altered along the way.
• A mortgage audit will help you to see whether or not the appraisal of your client’s home whas done appropriately.
• A mortgage audit will uncover whether everything was done appropriately during the approval process - checking your client’s credit records, employment records and financial statements.
• A mortgage audit will help you to uncover information about settlements, accuracy and loan conditions to determine whether or not everything was in order.

The more that you are able to understand about your clients’ mortgage loans - with the help of the mortgage audit process - the better the position that you are going to be in to support your clients and work out an arrangement that will help them to stay in their homes and maintain their credit.

Mortgage audits are one of the few tools that are available to homeowners and the financial service professionals who are helping those homeowners to fight foreclosure that often results in identifying problems that have taken place when the mortgage was issued. Specifically, there are a number of problems that can be identified during the course of a mortgage audit as the following excerpt from the loan modification blog explains:

Yes, the rates are low, but how many people are going to qualify for refinancing at this stage in the game. Not to mention the equity that has been lost since the housing market tanked. The investment in a mortgage loan audit to ensure the borrower gets the best modification possible is surely worth the effort.

The audit process can determine whether the information in the preliminary loan application, final application and all the credit documents are consistent or reconciled. A review of the appraisal is done to ensure the property value was established using reasonable comparables and accurate information.

In other words, when you are working with your clients who are facing the possibility of foreclosure, mortgage audits are going to help you uncover what you have to work with. If you’re able to find that there were inaccurate reports about your client’s income or that the appraisal was inflated on paper to pad the lender’s pocket, you are going to be in a great position to save your clients’ homes. With this information you’ll find that you are able to not only work out a better deal, but also that you are able to make sure that your clients are the ones who benefit.

With all the talk about problems within the mortgage industry, a number of your financial law clients who approach you are going to be thinking about what’s out there - specifically, they’re going to want to hear about mortgage audits and other tools that you can take advantage of to ensure that they are able to stay in their homes.

However, you’re going to find that not all of the clients who come to you looking for information will just be looking into mortgage audits and loan modifications to help them stop foreclosure once it’s a genuine threat. For example, you’ll find that there are a number of great opportunities to take advantage of mortgage audits long before there are major problems:

(source)It’s the homeowner’s right to get a forensic loan audit performed at any time — even before the loan closes. Loan auditors can review documents before you sign on the dotted line. All the homeowner has to do is ask for what most lenders call an “attorney’s package.” This would be a copy of all the documents you would be signing at closing.

If you don’t feel comfortable with the terms your loan originator is quoting you and you feel stuck in the loan process it is your right to question it before you even sign. There are still unscrupulous originators out there, believe it or not, that will try to take advantage of lack of knowledge in the mortgage industry.

In other words, when you work with clients who come to you with questions about mortgage, you’re going to want to be sure that you are able to help them as much as possible; mortgage audits will give you the information that you need to do so.

One of the things that you are going to want to be thinking about when you work with clients who are making an effort to stop foreclosure is simple: you need to be sure that you have the information that you need in order to be able to perform at your best. Mortgage audits are going to ensure that you have the information that you need to focus on the key details of your clients’ loans so that you can be sure that you’re giving them the best service.

In other words, what you are going to find is that mortgage audits give you the opportunity to know what has been written into your clients’ loan. When you are able to know that you have all of the details - information about whether or not their initial paperwork had some blanks that weren’t filled in, details about terms and conditions that may have been unclear (or omitted) and even falsifications in some cases - you are able to know that when you approach the lender you are focused on getting the best possible arrangement for your clients.

Mortgage audits are going to enable you to know that when you approach the lender you will have all of the facts that you need to work out a deal for your clients. With the right information, you will know that you can discuss whether or not the loan is enforceable and make sure that the loan modification (or other solution) that is agreed upon doesn’t just let the bank off the hook, but it also works in your clients’ favor.