Bank of America Denied My Loan Modification - What Now?

Many professionals consider Bank of America to be one of the most frustrating lenders to modify a loan with. With the recent acquisition of Countrywide, they now service an enormous amount of home loans for an equally large amount of backing mortgage investors. This means that every loan they have falls under different guidelines and the modification options on each loan are always different. Patience and persistence will be the your best weapons to fight this uphill battle.

If you've already been denied for loan modification it's very likely that Bank of America kept you waiting at least 30-90 days before they deliver that unfortunate news. This is the typical time frame for the modification process with Bank of America and it's never recommended to continue missing payments while waiting on a modification request. There is no advantage or leverage gained by falling further behind on mortgage payments. If your request was just denied and you find yourself more than ninety days behind, it's important you determine where the loan stands in the foreclosure process before beginning another lengthy review process. If you don't feel comfortable discussing the foreclosure process with your lender yourself, it's advisable to have somebody you can trust call with you to determine where in the foreclosure process the loan is, and also determine if there is any immediate danger of an auction date.

The #1 most important thing if you have just been denied is timing. You don't want to start all the way at the beginning of the review process again, if you don't need to. Many times while the negotiator is still assigned you may be able to resubmit your financial statement before the review is closed. You will need to work quickly to update all the financial information you originally sent to start the review (pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, profit & loss, etc). The original financial statement is why your loan modification was denied and you will need to quickly make the adjustments or correct any inaccurate calculations from the original. Many times a representative may explain what was wrong with your finances, giving you an idea as to what adjustments are needed. If too much time passes and the review is closed, it may mean you will need to begin the review process again and another 30-90 days before your financial statement will be reviewed again. Timing is everything with Bank of America and based on common practice it's necessary to call them twice a week while the review process is in these end stages.

The bottom line is, don't give up. You weren't denied the loan modification because they don't like you, it's only a matter of numbers. Just don't forget another important number, missed payments, always understand and be honest with yourself about how far behind you are and do your best to keep the loan from slipping into active foreclosure.