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by MatthewCCox

Peacefully Responding to Paying Taxes

April 12, 2013 in Finance, Spirituality

“I have a question for you.”

The voice on the other end of the phone call was Jose, the young man with the forty-thousand dollar tax bill.

artistic tax“After doing my taxes, do you think I should pay off my house?”

“What’s the balance?”

“About a hundred sixty thousand.”

“Do you have that much cash?”

“No problem.”

“Do you need the money to fund your business?”

“You’ve seen my bank balance. I have enough to pay off my house and keep the business funded.”

Based on the work I had recently done for Jose, I agreed with his assessment.

“You’re the tax guy, and tax guys say mortgage interest helps my taxes. What do you think?”

“Well, you paid six thousand dollars in mortgage interest. That saved you about two thousand dollars in taxes.”

“So, it isn’t that good of a deal?”

“You’re a businessman. This isn’t a magic trick. You paid six thousand in interest to reduce your tax bill by two thousand. It’s pretty obvious to me. We are programmed in our country to think that mortgage interest is a great tax deal. You’ve only been here a few years so you’re not programmed and you’re just looking at the numbers.”

“The numbers say mortgage interest isn’t a good deal. I’m paying off my house.”

“That’s what I would do if I were you.”

“Thanks for your time.”

As Jose hung up the phone, I thought about how his attitude about money was simple, logical, and free.

He recognized that reducing taxes was important.

However, it was secondary to reducing overall expenses.

He was grateful to pay taxes because, to him, it meant freedom.

Therefore, taxes were not to be avoided at all costs, especially if avoiding taxes was more expensive than paying them.

My interaction with Jose brought a sense of conclusion to my search for the peaceful response to taxes.

I unknowingly started this search almost three weeks ago while writing about the banking crisis in Cyprus.

As I considered the risks involved with doing business with banks and other financial institutions, I noticed that tax breaks are often used as carrots to get us to do something we otherwise would not do.

As I investigated tax deductions, I realized they are used to encourage poor decisions in the areas of education, religion, medicine, investments, and wealth building.

Then, I noticed the attitude of wealthy clients when they pay taxes.

I realized their lack of resistance to paying taxes was a key to their abundance.

I came to understand that paying taxes is one way of demonstrating the concept of unity.

Furthermore, paying taxes is congruent with the definition of ownership that says we pay for the privilege of caring for and releasing the “possessions” in our lives, as opposed to becoming attached to them and attempting to control them.

My experiences and new understandings over the past few weeks have demonstrated that the tax system has flaws. It is used and manipulated for the benefit of the few.

However, with awareness and wisdom, it may still be used, even in its imperfection, to work towards a peaceful society.

I’m sure I’ll return to this topic in future articles.

For now, there is something looming in the Far East and on America’s western horizon that needs to be addressed.

I’ll write about the threat from North Korea tomorrow.

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by MatthewCCox

The New Agenda, Same as the Old One

April 4, 2013 in Finance, United States

When I learn something new, I go through a series of steps.

  • I consider that it can be true.
  • I explore whether it is true.
  • I discover it is true and, often, this makes me uncomfortable.
  • I attempt to prove it isn’t true.

I usually fail in the final step. This failure allows me to accept the new truth.

I am currently going through the final step regarding the idea that the purpose of tax deductions is to reward taxpayers for behaviors they would not do otherwise.

new bank robberyThese behaviors provide a method of transferring assets to The Fed or whoever controls The Fed.

I have felt conspiratorial and silly just writing about this topic.

Therefore, I find myself at the final step of attempting to disprove this idea.

In my efforts to do this, I found this story yesterday.

It documents President Obama’s push to encourage banks to make home loans available to people with weaker credit.

Critics are saying this is a foolish effort.

They claim this practice was exactly what caused the banking crisis a few short years ago.

In case you have forgotten, here is what transpired.

  • Lenders gave mortgages to people who were unlikely to pay.
  • This caused a real estate bubble and produced many loan defaults.
  • Smaller banks collapsed.
  • Congress agreed to take on more debt to keep the larger banks open.
  • The larger banks consumed the smaller banks.
  • Bank executives walked with huge bonuses.
  • Government sponsored loan modification programs allowed those willing to jump through the hoops to keep their homes and negotiate more favorable loan terms.

Obama’s announcement indicates he is ready to go through this cycle again.

And, it is only a foolish step if his goal is to prevent future bailouts.

In fact, it is exactly what he should do if his administration’s goal is to consolidate assets so it may consolidate control.

The 2008 bank bailout consolidated small banks into larger banks.

It saved larger banks at the expense of taxpayers.

Although it didn’t directly create new taxes, it virtually forced The Fed to create more money and rocketed inflation.

This became an indirect tax increase by increasing the cost of living. Individuals on fixed income and savers lost purchasing power as their dollars lost value.

The next step in this process is to move from taking the money indirectly to taking it directly.

The recent situation in Cyprus gives us clues.

Again, it won’t be done through a tax increase.

Here is the likely future scenario.

  • Banks will give mortgages to people who are unlikely to pay.
  • This will cause another real estate bubble that will produce many loan defaults.
  • Smaller banks will collapse.
  • Congress WILL NOT agree to take on more debt to keep the larger banks open. Banks will seize deposits from accounts to do this.
  • The larger banks will consume the smaller banks.
  • Bank executives will walk with huge bonuses.
  • Government sponsored loan modification programs will allow those willing to jump through the hoops to keep their homes and negotiate affordable loan terms.

I do not know why this is happening.

I do not know who is behind this.

I can only see what has taken place in the past and that those actions give us signs of what is likely to happen in the future.

I’m telling my clients to prepare accordingly.

I’ll give the details tomorrow.

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by MatthewCCox

Marketing the American Dream

April 2, 2013 in Finance, United States

Mortgage AgreementPart of the American Dream includes owning a home.

In lieu of huge amounts of cash, these properties are obtained through mortgages.

The traditional understanding of a mortgage is that a lender, usually a bank, provides the funds for the transaction and, in exchange, receives a deed to the property.

A set of legal documents, including a note, defines the agreement that requires the purchaser/borrower to repay, over time, the funds to the lender plus interest.

If the borrower doesn’t pay, the lender records the deed and gets the property.

If the borrower successfully makes all the payments, the lender gives the deed to the borrower.

Along the way, the borrower receives a tax deduction for the interest paid.

As I mentioned a few days ago, my clients often tell me how wise it is to get a mortgage because of the tax break.

In fact, that’s where I started this series of articles about how tax deductions are used to encourage tax paying Americans to do something they otherwise would not do.

In the case of a mortgage, the borrower agrees to provide an income stream to the lender for thirty years. In addition, the borrower agrees to give up the property and all of the money previously paid should he or she fail to provide that income stream.

The lender wins either way.

The bank ends up with a thirty-year stream of income or a property that is worth more than the balance of the loan.

The buyer only wins if the payments are made.

Moreover, the borrower stands to lose everything if a payment is missed.

In spite of this, the IRS still feels a need to provide a reward for making the payments.

Why?

There are several surface explanations:

  • Housing runs the economy.
  • The American Dream isn’t fulfilled without home ownership and government wants to support that dream.
  • Home ownership provides stability for families.

The legal documents within mortgages say something else.

They say it is about the transference and control of wealth.

The tax deduction isn’t there to motivate people to make their payments. (It is only available if the taxpayer itemizes deductions or uses part of the home for business purposes. Less than sixty percent of my clients who pay mortgage interest benefit from the deduction.)

It is there to boost marketing efforts for the American Dream by motivating taxpayers to enter into the mortgage.

With this perspective, we begin to gain clarity on the nefarious nature of mortgages.

A person committed to keeping the house has agreed to a near lifetime of payments to a bank.

A person not committed to keeping the house has just acquired it for the bank.

Why would the IRS care about these transactions?

Why would government provide a reward for them?

As we have learned throughout this series, tax deductions are only given when there is a reciprocal or better benefit to the ones giving the deduction.

If we can deduce the answer to these questions, we can gain valuable information that is helpful in determining financial decisions and lifestyle behaviors.

In addition, we can gain insight into the goals of the IRS, government, and other institutions that attempt to control our lives.

It is only then that we can become truly aware enough to understand and demonstrate the peaceful response.

I’ll tackle those questions and provide a summary of this series in tomorrow’s writing.

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by MatthewCCox

Iceland Leads The Way

April 15, 2012 in Finance

The call for complete forgiveness of debt, what some would call a jubilee, has resounded through our society over the past several months.

I started writing about it last fall.

At the time, I received comments from many people who agreed that the forgiveness of debt may be the only thing that allows our world to experience a full economic recovery.

Iceland FlagAccording to recent stories, Iceland has done exactly that. The reports vary on the reach of this debt forgiveness.

This YouTube video claims it was nationwide forgiveness of mortgage debt.

This more conservative story from Bloomberg states it was just for those whose mortgages were more than the value of their homes.

Whatever the actual story is, it is apparent that Iceland is taking bold steps in relieving the debt load of its people.

Central banks are taking notice.

The International Monetary Fund agrees that this is a good fiscal practice to restore growth.

In the United States, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are debating the technique and are close to implementing it.

Some are complaining that debt forgiveness wouldn’t be fair to those who have worked hard, managed their finances, and paid their debt without help. I understand this argument. I am all for personal responsibility and, as a rule; I think entitlements hurt productivity and discourage personal growth.

Others say debt forgiveness is tit-for-tat because the banks’ debts were paid by taxpayers in 2008. It is only fair that taxpayers get financial relief too. In addition, the banks practice of creating money out of thin air is not fair. Rather than provide value for value, this practice causes inflation and produces debt slavery.

I see this point too. However, correction is not about revenge. It is about correction. It is about doing something in a manner that accomplishes our stated goal.

So, what is our goal?

As far as I can tell, it is to create a fair economy for all; one in which every person on our planet thrives.

This is what happened when people took responsibility, managed their finances, and paid their mortgages. They thrived financially. They mastered the financial lessons. Those people are to be commended.

However, most have not yet mastered this skill because the current banking system makes it virtually impossible to do so. This system is rigged to oppose the reduction of debt. As a result, our entire society suffers.

We would relieve this suffering through debt forgiveness. Moreover, the financial reverberations of such an audacious move will spur an economic boom as funds that were previously used to service debt are freed up to feed other parts of the economy.

Debt forgiveness would allow for this. It would balance the scales.

Iceland has set the pace.

The central banks are considering it.

Those who oppose it are doing so because they have proudly mastered financial lessons and they think others should do so too.

Maybe it is time for them to learn a new lesson.

It is the lesson of forgiveness.

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by MatthewCCox

Keeping Our Dream Home

January 30, 2012 in Finance

A little over eight years ago, we moved into our 4500 square foot dream house. We had built it right behind our double-wide mobile home on property we purchased in 1988. I had spent most of my lifetime inMortgage a trailer house of some type so it took some adjusting on my part to get used to it.

It also took some adjusting to get used to paying for it.

In an effort to create those resources, we became involved in two aggressive businesses. They produced lots of money but not much profit. They both failed and we took the equity out of the new house several times while establishing two new businesses that were profitable.

The final time we removed equity was at the height of the market. We ended up with an 8% loan.

When the mortgage crisis hit, we jumped on the opportunity to get a modification and, in the summer of 2009, we received one with a fixed rate of 5.75%. This was a government sponsored modification. During this process, the appraisal determined the loan was almost 200% of the new market value of the house.

I didn’t think we could get an additional modification so I didn’t consider another one until I received a call from an attorney’s office last August offering to help us get a modification. I told them I didn’t think we could get a second one. The caller told me we could if it had been a year since the last one.

I work as an accountant. Therefore, I understood the modification process. I have been through one for myself and helped several clients with their paperwork. So, last September, I decided to pursue a second modification with our mortgage servicing company.

When I called to ask them about it, they said we couldn’t get a second one as long as our first one was in good standing. I asked them how many payments we would have to miss to put it in “bad standing.”

They wouldn’t tell me so we decided to experiment.

We quit making payments, and agreed that, since our house was upside down, we would risk foreclosure. We understood the MSC would have difficulty selling this house. We were determined to reduce our cost of living, even if that meant moving to another house.

I communicated this to the MSC. We requested an interest rate of 2%, explained we would not make another payment until we received this, and reminded the MSC of the loan to value ratio.

We concluded that, if we could cut our payment in half, we would be willing to accept the loan to value ratio. The 2% interest rate would cut our payment by 47%.

Every time we received a collection call from the MSC, I repeated our stance.

Upon their request, we completed the modification paperwork twice: once in September and once in December. I included fully documented financial information to support the modification request and wrote an additional letter reminding them of the situation with the loan to value ratio. We had two long phone calls to discuss the modification. During each call, we were told we did not qualify for a modification. I always asked why and they never gave me a straight answer.

We received the 2% modification proposal about ten days after the second call.

There are several lessons here.

  1. Recognize your Desire and do everything within your power to fulfill it, even when everyone says it can’t be done. (Our Desire was to reduce our cost of living.)
  2. Do not become attached to how a specific Desire will be fulfilled. (We were willing to give up our dream house to fulfill our Desire.)
  3. Become informed about your situation and do everything you can to fulfill your Desire while understanding The Universe will move heaven and earth to make it happen. This includes learning what is in the best interest of all parties and finding a solution that works for everyone. (I continually explained to the MSC how our deal was the best deal they were going to get for this property.)

Feel free to contact me if you wish to know more about situation or would like to chat with me about how our team could help you with your situation.

If you think the cost for our service will be an issue, I suggest you read my next article when I start a series that I believe has the potential to usher in our new economic system.

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by MatthewCCox

Updates on Previous Articles

December 20, 2011 in Opinion

Peace of Mind News UpdateSeveral readers have asked for an update on previous articles. This article has a montage of updates.

Mortgage Situation – This link takes you to previous articles on this topic.

Even though there has been some activity, the situation is not resolved.

The phone calls have ended. The last phone call, which was more than a month ago, ended with the mortgage servicing company representative telling me they would email a loan modification package to me. I asked him to verify my email address and the line disconnected.

About ten days ago, we received a letter explaining that we had options regarding our mortgage. It asked us to submit our loan modification paperwork a second time. I completed it and faxed it to them late last week.

The foreclosure paperwork, which was promised more than a month ago, has not appeared.

Our plan is to refuse to make payments until the mortgage servicing company negotiates with us to our satisfaction.

The “Straw Man Strategy” to Remove Debt – This link takes you to previous articles on this topic.

Our attempt to use the “straw man strategy” to remove debt is approaching the magical sixty-day mark. We have not received any correspondence regarding our initial effort. We have been told not to expect any correspondence and to watch our account balances for the results.

If we do not have a response by the seventy-day mark, we will move to the “2nd notice” technique that has produced results for many people.

Trip to The Middle East – This link takes you to a previous article on this topic.

The team’s trip to the Middle East has been postponed for approximately ninety days. I can only guess what the next step will be. I have heard about several options. At this point, I have decided not to write about it until the team or a member of the team is on an airplane headed in that direction.

The discoveries are truly remarkable. They have significant potential ramifications. I am sure that when humanity is ready for these, a trip will take place and we will gather that information. Until then, we wait patiently.

OccuPIE Book

I am about thirty percent done with this project. Subscribers to this site will have the first opportunity to preview this book. If you are not a subscriber, you may subscribe by using the form on the free subscription page.

Next Steps

I remain committed to responding to news and life from a peaceful perspective by writing daily articles 500-600 words in length. My intent is to provide information and respond to it peacefully. I understand this is a foreign concept to many people since most news sites do the opposite.

New readers may need to go back and read several articles to understand why I have the perspective I have. I invite you to do this. In addition, I invite you to explore the other sites linked to this website, especially The Peace of Mind Training Institute.

Due to spam attacks on Peace of Mind News, we have turned off the comments. However, if you have questions or wish to discuss any of our articles, feel free to use the email link on the Contact Page or to start a discussion on our Facebook page.

We intend to install improved comment functionality in the near future. However, other things are priorities at this time.

Thanks for reading, subscribing, and being.

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by MatthewCCox

Things That Make Me Go HMMMM

October 26, 2011 in Opinion

Pondering CatAs I have explained in other places on this website, when I write for Peace of Mind News, I write about topics that interest me. In many cases, they confuse me. They cause me to go HMMMM.

With my confusion comes an unease that I must reconcile. Therefore, when a topic appears on my radar, I am compelled to write about it. I must see it, investigate all the angles, and explore it via any sources I can find.

As I have done this to write about Occupy Together, illegals drugs, UFOs, finances, and other topics, I’ve discovered a common thread.

There is a truth. This truth is used by those in power (The Establishment) to get and keep power. Then, this truth is hidden or ruled illegal so that those in power can prevent citizens (The People) from using it. If The People attempt to uncover the truth or discuss why something is labeled “illegal,” The Establishment calls it a conspiracy theory and implies that The People are crazy.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Occupy Together – The People are protesting because numerous financial and legal issues need addressing. The Establishment knows about these problems and realizes that the solutions require drastic actions that they don’t want to implement. Therefore, they discredit Occupy Together by linking it to fringe elements or arresting the protestors, many times without charging them for anything.

Drugs – The People and The Establishment use drugs for medicinal, recreational, and spiritual purposes. The Establishment use uses tax dollars to regulate the supply and use of the drugs. The Establishment maintains the supply of the drugs and profits from the sale of them. In addition, The Establishment profits from providing security and weapons for illegal drug suppliers.

UFOs – The People report seeing UFOs and encounters with ETs. The Establishment either issues statements that explain away the experiences or, more likely, they ignore the reports. In the instances where The Establishment has information on the topic, they claim it cannot be released for security reasons.

Financial – The People struggle under a significant load of personal debt. Even though The People may have benefitted from the use of the debt, the access to this credit was pushed upon The People so that The Establishment could propagate a fiat money system based upon government debt. This fiat money system gives The Establishment the ability to control how The People use time. It must be exchanged for revenue to pay The People’s debt. This revenue is taxed by government to pay its debt.

Some theories claim that this debt can be removed through the application of certain laws. When The People attempt to learn about these laws, The Establishment neither confirms nor denies them. Sometimes, The People are successful in getting the debts removed. Other times, The People push the law too far and they end up arrested by The Establishment.

Mortgages – The People use mortgages to acquire houses. The Establishment uses these mortgages to create trading and financial instruments. The Establishment trades these instruments as currency in their business transactions. This destroys the rights of the mortgager and the mortgagee, making many of today’s current mortgages fraudulent. Apparently, The Establishment does not understand the rules of the game it has created. Some of The People are keeping their homes and walking away from the mortgage. (A lot has happened with this topic in the past week and I’ll devote an entire article to it in the next day or so.)

I will continue to visit these topics in an attempt to gain clarity about them and, of course, respond from a peaceful response.

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by MatthewCCox

My Mortgage Company Serves Me Waffles

October 26, 2011 in Finance

I wrote previously about our experiences in attempting to acquire a modification on our home mortgage. If you missed it, you may read that story here.

A couple nights ago, I received another call from my mortgage company.

“Mr. Cox, when may we expect your past due payment?”

I encouraged the representative to look at the notes on the account.

I told him we would not make a payment until they had sent us the paperwork for the loan modification.

I explained to him that we had filed the modification application more than six weeks ago and, the last time someone called, I had been promised we would have the modification paperwork in 5-7 business days. I had even been quoted interest rates and payment amounts.

The representative put me on hold and came back to tell me that the previous representative made a mistake and I would have to wait until the account was eighty days past due and no longer in good standing.

“That’s odd. The previous representative told me two weeks ago that not making a payment for thirty days would revoke the good standing of the account and allow you to negotiate with me.”

“He made a mistake.”

“How do I know you aren’t making a mistake today?”

“I apologize for the earlier mistake.”

WafflesI smiled. They had waffled on me.

This was becoming a game. I decided I could wait as long to make the next payment as they could wait to give me the modification.

I didn’t feel an iota of remorse about playing this game. I was negotiating in good faith, explaining precisely what I was going to do and what they could do to get me to do what they wanted me to do.

Apparently, this confused them.

Or, maybe they didn’t care that they had a mortgage on their books that was upside down by more than two hundred thousand dollars.

I considered what my attorney friend, Ana, had told me during our conversation.

“Your signed Promissory Note is a negotiable instrument that the bank sold to another bank or the Federal Reserve through the ones and zeros, the electronic transfer of funds. The lender has already been paid. In most cases, the servicing company doesn’t have the legal right to foreclose or enforce the terms of the loan because the document you signed has been sold and used as a negotiable instrument. The servicing company only has the servicing contract. They don’t have the actual note.”

I didn’t know if that was true or not. However, the servicing company was beginning to act like it was.

Was the threat of foreclosure an empty threat? Would they give me my promised modification? How long would it take?

I’ll let you know as soon as I know myself.

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by MatthewCCox

Using Risk to Gain a Financial Education

October 13, 2011 in Finance

The next collections call from my mortgage company went like this.

“Mr. Matthew, we want to know when we can expect your past due payment.”

“As I have told each person who has called from your company, we will not make a payment until you give us a new loan modification.”

“Your loan is now thirty days past due and I must tell you the procedure for foreclosure.”

The representative went on to tell me what would happen if we continued not to make payments. He explained the additional costs that would be added to our account.

“I understand what you have told me. Do you understand what I have told you? We don’t intend to make another payment until you give us a modification. It is my understanding that you can give us a loan modification that will reduce our payment when the loan is no longer in good standing. I have clearly communicated this since we stopped making payments. You may look at the notes on my loan.

“We are prepared not to make any more payments and allow the house to go into foreclosure if you wish for us to do so. Please understand that the loan on our house is more than two hundred thousand dollars more than the value of the house so it is in your best interest not to foreclose because no one will pay you the value of this loan except us.

“You may send us the modification paperwork that complies with our request and we will resume payments at that time.”

“Oh, you have applied for a loan modification. May I put you on hold?”

“Yes.”

RiskI had trouble believing I had said those things so easily. Normally, I would be afraid to risk losing our dream home to foreclosure. However, each person living in our home believed the potential reward was worth the risk. We wanted to live our lives without the burden of such a large payment. We were going to reduce that burden by reducing the payment or we were going to remove the burden by allowing the house to go to foreclosure.

There was something else I wanted to test through this exercise with the mortgage company. I had heard there was less money available in this economy and the banks would agree to almost any terms to prevent from having to take legal actions to collect. Was this true? I soon had my answer.

“Mr. Matthew, I have reviewed your file and I believe we can give you the modification you have requested. Your interest rate will be two percent for the next sixty months and go up to four point five percent at that time. Please understand that it must go through final review and that will take five to seven business days. Do not make any payments until you hear from us. You may contact us after seven business days if you have not heard from us.”

I confirmed that our payment would be cut in half. I learned that once our payments were thirty days late, the loan was no longer in good standing and the modification process could begin.

We were one step closer to reducing our house payment and I had further developed my financial education.

A couple days later, I had the opportunity to take my financial education to a higher level. I’ll write about that in a future article.

Are you struggling to make your house payment? Would a loan modification help you?

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by MatthewCCox

The Next Step in My Financial Education

October 12, 2011 in Finance

The lack of a quality financial education plagues society. As I wrote previously, those who understand the financial game often benefit at the cost of those who don’t. As a result, many people struggle to make a living when it doesn’t have to be that way.

For example, when the home loan modification program was first introduced, everyone told me I couldn’t get a loan modification because my loan was current. After asking many questions, I learned there was a way to do it and I got it done in spite of experts telling me I couldn’t.

MortgageMy financial situation changed drastically over the past few months and I wondered if I could get another modification. Everyone told me this wasn’t possible since I previously received a modification. Then, I heard through a casual conversation that an additional modification is possible just twelve months after receiving the first one.

When I called my lender to ask about it, they told me this wasn’t possible, as long as I had a loan modification currently in good standing. This carefully worded phrase held a clue so I decided to talk with those who share our house and explain the situation.

I told them that I had reason to believe that if we didn’t make payments for two or three months, that the mortgage would achieve a “bad standing” status and we could possibly get a loan modification. Unanimously, everyone said, “Quit making payments.”

I explained that we could lose our dream house to foreclosure and the response was the same.

“Quit making payments.”

This goes against everything I’ve ever done in the past. However, it made sense, especially if this is what it would take to reduce the loan interest rate.

So, early last month, I requested the loan modification paperwork, completed it, and sent it to the mortgage company. Then, I called the mortgage company to tell them the news. The call went like this.

“Hi, I’m calling to tell you I have just submitted the paperwork for a loan modification and I won’t be making a payment until you approve it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. We must deny this modification because you have a modification that is currently in good standing.”

“I understand. Therefore, we will not be making a payment until you give us a new loan modification. You can decide when the current modification is no longer in good standing.”

The representative realized what I was doing and said through a chuckle, “Please, may I put you on hold? I need to talk with a supervisor.”

“Sure.”

After a few minutes, the call resumed and the representative still had a chuckle in his voice.

“Mr. Matthew, I’m sorry. We must deny your modification because you have a modification that is currently in good standing.”

“I understand. Therefore, we will not be making a payment until you give us a new loan modification. You can decide when the current modification is no longer in good standing. It doesn’t matter to us how long this takes. I just want to be honest and upfront with you about our plans.”

The representative continued to suppress laughter before asking, “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yes, please put a note on my account so that anyone else who calls in an attempt to collect will understand what it takes to resolve this situation.”

“I will do that Mr. Matthew. Have a good day.”

This call repeated a couple of times until our first payment was thirty days late.

Then, I received a different call.

I’ll tell you about that conversation in a future article.

Would you be willing to risk foreclosure if you could reduce your mortgage payment by fifty percent?

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