No one ever said life was a bed of roses.  But who knew that the financial crises we’re facing worldwide would be a bed of thorns?

For anyone in a distressed mortgage, possibly facing potential foreclosure on their home loan, life is thorny indeed. It’s bad enough to suffer income loss, possibly illness or divorce – traditionally the primary reasons for bankruptcy and foreclosure – but throw in the difficulty of dealing with harried and distant home loan officers at your mortgage bank and it’s a formula for almost unbearable emotional stress.

The solution for millions is coming in negotiations for better mortgage terms. In fact, banks are not interested in owning anyone’s home. That’s a failure from their perspective as well.  It costs them money to pursue foreclosure through the courts, and when they own a property they are stuck with liabilities associated with it and selling in a difficult market. And you better believe that when a bank owns a house, the garden isn’t getting much attention.

Loan modification firms can handle the paperwork and negotiations for the homeowner.  In fact, many therapists, attorneys and realtors recommend it – by hiring professionals (loan modification firms are staffed by attorneys and home finance people), the outcome is more likely successful. In their industry, they know specific cost structures for the lenders such that they can create the win-win – better loan terms the homeowner can handle, yet still maintain an income to the lender.

Loan modification firms even know upfront what their success rate will be with more than 90 percent accuracy.  When contracting with a firm, ask for a 100 percent money back guaranty to protect yourself in an otherwise thorny situation.

We see a lot in the news about banks working out their own problems while homeowners themselves are stressed by the housing market and mortgage crisis. Foreclosures by lenders on homes almost conjures up images from the 1930s, when the evil banker took away homes and farms with an almost gleeful demeanor.

But when it comes down to it, the banks don’t want to own homes. Nor do they want to go through the foreclosure process.  Why? It’s about the money. They lose in both the legal proceedings of foreclosure and the process of taking possession of a home, managing it and trying to resell it in this very low point of the market.

That’s why loan modification specialists are smart for anyone in a distressed loan or undergoing home loan foreclosure proceedings. To the homeowner, it’s about the place where they live, the emotional attachments and all-important place to sleep at night. A loan modifier – usually staffed by attorneys and mortgage financing experts – knows the financial position of the bank. They know where the lender’s hot spots are, and what lower, recast mortgage terms they might agree to because they’ll save money in the end. Note also that by allowing a homeowner to continue making lower mortgage payments, the lender ultimately keeps a customer for the long term.

Like the line from Cuba Gooding in the modern movie classic Jerry McGuire, it’s all about “show me the money!”  That’s what banks want, what loan modification specialists do – and what benefits the homeowner in the end.

It’s almost impossible to not be emotional when a home loan is based on an ARM schedule that rises out of sight. Add to that the prospect of a loan foreclosure, when the bank says despite your best efforts they’re going to take your home away from you, lock the door and send you away.

Because a house is more than a financial instrument. It’s a home. The place you go to for warmth, protection, security, family. If loss of an income, illness or divorce is part of why you can’t pay your mortgage, it’s no wonder you have a hard time dealing with a faceless bureaucracy that gave you the mortgage in the first place (perhaps with terms that were poorly explained, if at all).

This is why many homeowners in distressed mortgages are turning to loan modification specialists. These specialists are attorneys and mortgage financing experts, able to help you recast your situation to a more workable payment schedule, one that may well enable you to stay in your home.  How do they work?

The loan modification firm will examine your situation and predict with 93% certainty whether you will or will not qualify for a loan modification.

They approach banks with not only your information, but also background knowledge on what modifications the lender will be willing to do. This is because they know that banks lose when the homeowner loses – a foreclosure costs them money in legal fees, they lose a customer and source of cash flow, and they end up owning, managing and marketing a house, not their core business.

They deal with the whole matter dispassionately — which often is more effective with bankers who otherwise deal with distraught and under-prepared people all day long.

Loan modifications not only help solve problems, but can be a good way to manage the stresses of life in this historically troubled economy.

Few people in or near a loan foreclosure are new to their situation. Problems may have begun with an income loss, illness, divorce or an ARM that adjusted upwards. For one or several months, the homeowner tries to find a way to make it work – cut out expenses, find new income, ask friends and family for help. The individual may also go to the source of the mortgage problem, the lender, and tried to find a sympathetic ear, someone who can fix the problem.

But time passes, the homeowner gets further behind in their bills, and the bank officer assigned their case is dealing with 700 or 800 other cases, unable to help the individual work out better terms. Options may appear to be exhausted.

This is why loan modifiers – attorneys and financing experts hired by the homeowner – are not only a last chance for many homeowners.  They are the best chance.  Here’s why:

• Loan modifiers understand how to talk to banks, in their language and with the information that means the most to lenders.
• Loan modification companies understand the economics of banking. They know the bank doesn’t really profit from owning a home - especially in this housing market.
• Loan modifiers are non-emotional in ways that homeowners cannot be. They can better manage the bank representative with a cool demeanor.

Loan modification firms are generally hired at the cost of one month’s mortgage payment, and can predict with high (93% or greater) certainty how successful they will be in the loan modification negotiation.  Without that, they should refund the money to the homeowner. 

The net result is that thousands of families have remained in their homes at better terms because they hired this intermediary.