Sample Hardship Letters

Hardship Letter Samples

Forbearance Plan with Loan Modification (Death in Family)

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Short Sale of Investment Property (Job Relocation)

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Home Affordable Loan Modification (Interest Rate Reset)

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Forbearance Plan with Loan Modification (Death in Family) December 15, 2006 Bob Wilcox Loss Mitigator Your Mortgage Company 987 Lake Road Wilmington, DE 09126 John and Susie Homeowner 1234 Anystreet Ave. Hometown, MN 12345 Account number: 0098767989065433 Dear Mr. Wilcox: We are writing today to ask for a forbearance plan with a potential loan modification to help us get our mortgage out of foreclosure. We love our house, our children are involved in church and school activities, and we both work close by, so we want to do whatever we can to keep our home. John's mother, who had been living with us for the last 5 years and had been paying $500 each month to help with expenses passed away unexpectedly 6 months ago. John tried to work overtime at his job to compensate, but his company does not have the business to support it. Unfortunately, Susie’s position is salaried, so overtime is not an option. We fell behind on our mortgage payments because of this loss in income. We have tried cutting our expenses every way we know how, but with rising gas and food prices, we've found it extremely difficult to make ends meet. John is looking for a second job, but has not been able to find anything after over two months of searching. Any partial payments we have sent you have been returned. We have saved $3,200 as of December 1 and have this money set aside to repay on our mortgage should this plan be approved. Most of this came from the partial payments you returned to us. Our financial information is included with this letter for your review. We propose a special forbearance agreement where you agree to accept a payment of $1,291 per month for the next six months. This is $500 less than our normal payment and the amount we are still short every month since John's mother passed away. Six months will give us enough time to find another job and/or reduce our expenses more. At the end of six months, if we're successful, we agree to begin paying our normal $1,791 per month mortgage payment plus an additional payment of $250 per month so our debt will be repaid within 12 months. If we have been unsuccessful after 4 months, we will put the home on the market so we can try to sell it before the end of the forbearance period. Should it not sell, we will be forced to renegotiate this workout agreement with you or sell. John and I can be reached at the address above. Our home phone number is: (765) 276-0763. You can also reach Susie on her cell phone at: (765) 128-7265. Sincerely, John Homeowner

Susie Homeowner

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Short Sale of Investment Property (Job Relocation) February 21, 2008 John and Susie Homeowner 1234 Anystreet Ave. Hometown, MN 12345 Property Address: 1000 Anystreet Drive Hampton, VA 54678 Loans: 12345678 and 98076543 To whom it may concern: When we purchased our house in March 2006, we planned to stay in the area for several years. Unfortunately, my company unexpectedly moved us away from Hampton in July 2007. When we left the house, we quickly rented it out for $1,800 per month. At the time, this was near the top of market rate rents for the area and left us with an approximately $300 per month deficit after property management costs were factored in. Our current tenants informed us this month that they plan to move out in May. Considering what’s happened to property values and rents in the area since 2007, it’s doubtful we’ll be able to rent it at $1,800 per month again. It would probably rent for $1,600 – 1,650 now. In addition, our first mortgage is a 3 year, interest only loan that will stop being interest only in May. We expect this to add several hundred dollars a month to our mortgage payment. We wanted to keep the house as a rental and wait for the property values to come back in a few years, but we simply can’t absorb this large of a decrease in rent and increase in our mortgage payment. In light of this, we decided to put the house on the market and sell it. We really hope to be able to sell it for enough to pay off our mortgages with you. Unfortunately, we don’t expect that to happen. Property values have fallen in the Hampton area and we expect to have to ask you to approve a short sale. If we don’t sell the house, we’ll burn through our savings in about 3 – 4 months after the tenants move out because no new tenants will be willing to move into a house that’s for sale. We have about $17,000 in savings, but $3,600 of this is our tenant’s rent and their security deposit. We’ve hired Vantage Financial Services to handle any loss mitigation issues. They can be reached at (757) 952-0621. You can also call John at (765) 276-0763. Thank you, John Homeowner

Susie Homeowner

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Home Affordable Loan Modification (Interest Rate Reset) April 6, 2009 Bob Wilcox Loss Mitigator Your Mortgage Company 987 Lake Road Wilmington, DE 09126 John and Susie Homeowner 1234 Anystreet Ave. Hometown, MN 12345 Account number: 0098767989065433 Dear Mr. Wilcox: We’re writing this letter as part of the hardship package we’re submitting to see if we qualify for a loan modification under the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification program. When we spoke with you on the phone, you said we were eligible for the program and asked us to submit this package. As we discussed on the phone, we’ve been able to make all of our payments so far, but our loan is going to reset in May and we won’t be able to pay the new payments. Our current payment is $1,064 and, according to the notice we got from you a couple weeks ago, our payment will be going up to $1,534 as of May 1st. This change will make our monthly payment 34% of our monthly income rather than the 23% it is currently. By reducing the payment to 31% of our income, or $1,398, we will be able to continue making our payments on time. We’ve returned all the paperwork and income verification documents you’ve requested to verify this. Thank you for your consideration of our package. If you need more information, John and I can be reached at the address above or at: (765) 276-0763. You can also reach Susie on her cell phone at: (765) 128-7265. Thank you, John Homeowner

Susie Homeowner

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"The Honest Truth About Hardship Letters" I truly hope you find these sample hardship letters helpful. I know you’re going through a very stressful time right now, so I’ve added these extra tips to help you get the most out of these samples and to dispel some of the garbage you’ll find on the internet because as you know, expert advice brings expert results. The Samples MUST Be Personalized Don’t take this step lightly! When I say personalized, I don’t simply mean you need to change the names, addresses, and financial information. Even if the situation in the letter matches your situation very closely, you MUST change the letter completely so it’s in your “voice” and comes from you. Loss mitigators will see a template letter a mile away. The 2 Things Your Letter MUST Get Across 1. You have to tell your lender what you’re requesting in language they can understand. You can’t just describe your situation and then ask them to put you in the program that fits you best. 2. You have to assure your lender why your proposed solution will work. If you don’t believe it will work, neither will they. The numbers have to make sense and you have to “sell” it so they believe you’re committed to making it happen. “What No One Else Will Tell You About Your Hardship Letter” It’s not really that important! That’s right...it’s really more of a formality than anything else. It will never convince your lender/servicer to do something that won’t work. The best letter in the world cannot make up for a bad financial situation that’s not going to improve. As one foreclosure book author once told me...

“If the finances make sense, the hardship letter could be written in crayon and it’d work!”

Honestly, if your hardship isn’t resolved, you’re wasting your time writing a hardship letter! I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I also want to let you know you should focus your efforts on what’s truly going to make the biggest difference...resolving your hardship. Once the hardship is resolved, your life can get back to normal. Don’t just save your home, save your way of life...and that starts with resolving your hardship.

“I Need to Get Started, But I don’t Know Where to Start!” If your hardship is resolved, your hardship package is complete, and you’re ready to get started writing your hardship letter, CONGRATULATIONS! Take these sample letters, personalize them for your situation like I discussed above and then send them off to your lender today...DON’T WAIT...do it now! If you’re like many people, though, writing doesn’t come easy. Even with a template, trying to describe your situation in one page is difficult and keeping your letter on track can be hard as well. That’s why we’ve put together a 16 page, step-by-step manual to help you escape your writer’s block. It’s called “Hassle Free Hardship Letters” and is only available at http://www.truthinforeclosure.com/hasslefree . If you’re stuck, please check it out right now. Please check out the Truth in Foreclosure site as well. People just like you are finding answers to their questions there every day. You’re not alone, so don’t go through it alone. We’d be honored if you would leave a comment on the Truth in Foreclosure blog to let us know if you found our hardship letter information helpful. Best Wishes,