Times are tough and many homeowners are feeling the squeeze.  From a purely psychological point of view it is extremely difficult to continue to make payments on an asset that has decreased almost 50% in value.  I believe that most home owners today want an opportunity to remain in their homes until we recover from this crisis.  The number of homeowners who are in financial trouble is staggering and increasing.  I'm not a economist nor a financial genius and I surely don't have an answer to the numerous problems we face in the financial markets.  I'm a Realtor, I know real estate and I sell homes but I can empathise with those that are hurting.

Some of the folks in jeopardy are friends and clients and I can tell you that all they want to do is keep their homes.  They call me for advise on the correct avenue to take to attempt to retain their homes.  The current HOT buttons are loan modification programs.  As a matter of fact "loan mods" made the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune.  I tell them all to start at HUD.  The 24 hour hotline for distressed property is 877-hud-1515.  You will have to be persistent and patient.  As you can imagine they are getting thousands of calls.  Give it a call and see what they say.  There are also hundreds of private companies that have lept into the loan modification business.  Please be very wary.  Do your research on all companies offering loan mod services.  You can use the BBB, a google search can provide some insight and talk directly to your lender first.  Paying any money up front is extremely risky.  Performance is difficult to measure, especially if no modifications occur and if it sounds to good to be true it almost certainly is.  There are success stories out there and people are getting help everyday.  Be persistent, stay focused and be patient.  Let me know if I can help.