Just like on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, life sometimes has its lifelines. If you’re in a home loan foreclosure situation – already in process, or close to it – a home loan modification consultant is your lifeline.

Here’s how it works. If you are unable to keep up with your mortgage payments – due to the economy, illness, divorce or other reasons – your lender might be open to reducing your monthly payments by reducing your interest payments, the length of the loan, or by other means. A recast mortgage can mean the difference between keeping and losing your home.

There are several reasons you would hire an intermediary. One is that getting through to the right people at your bank may be a frustrating experience. This makes a little more sense when you realize that the average loan officer has a caseload of 700 homeowner mortgages. They are stressed too. Also, the loan modification specialist has industry knowledge of what a foreclosure would cost a bank.  Keep in mind banks don’t want to own homes — they are far better off with monthly payments and not managing real property, selling at a below-value amount and liability issues. So the loan modifier is essentially finding that point between where the bank loses money and where you can afford to be. Also, a loan modification firm is made up of home mortgage experts and lawyers who can deal without the emotion typically attached to a foreclosure situation. Minus the emotional factor, a rational solution is more likely.

Maybe your home is or is not worth a million dollars. If you can hold on to it, with a monthly payment that you can manage, you will probably get greater value from it in the future.

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.

More than two-thirds of the American public are supportive of the Obama stimulus package, and encouraged by the administration’s plans to bolster the millions of distressed homeowners’ chances of staying in their homes.

But those plans are not in place yet. If you or someone you know is in a distressed mortgage – due to an out of control ARM (adjustable rate mortgage), loss of income, or other difficulties – it makes sense to consider something more immediate.

Loan modifications can be accomplished if you know how to negotiate with your lender. But few people do. For the price of a one month’s mortgage payment, a homeowner can hire a loan modification specialist to use their firm’s lawyers, financial experts and real estate professionals to approach the bank. They know the true costs of foreclosure to a lender. After all, banks are not in the home maintenance and sales business. Banks want to see monthly revenues from mortgage payments, and in this economy even if that’s reduced it beats a complete cut off from a borrower, with a house to then sell in a very difficult market.

Timing is very much of the essence. Investigate hiring a loan modification company as soon as possible. Ask if they provide a  guaranty, such as a 100 percent fee return if the modification process is unsuccessful. If they’re good, they will. The better firms succeed in 90 percent or more of the cases they take on.

For millions of Americans who are in home loans they didn’t understand – with terms such as skyrocketing ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) that are beyond their means to pay – it may be challenging to now consider using a loan modification firm to help negotiate a new loan.

The deja vu is in working with legal and financial experts who know more than you. Are they in it for a quick buck too?

First, understand what loan modification people do. On your behalf, paid a fee by you, they approach your lender to request better mortgage terms. Maybe they’ll get a rate reduction, or a reduction in monthly payments through a longer term (40 year) mortgage. Their goal is to keep you in your home at a payment schedule you can afford.

So what’s in it for them? You are asked to pay a fee of about one month’s mortgage payment. That’s it. And the better firms offer more: they should predict with 90 percent accuracy if they will or will not succeed in working on your case. And if they don’t succeed, they should offer a 100 percent money back guaranty (not all do).

How do they succeed where you might not? They know that banks don’t want to own houses. They know that foreclosure proceedings also cost the bank money to pursue. They also know that banks would prefer to keep you as a customer, providing them a monthly stream of incoming payments. But most important, they know how to cut through the red tape and voice mail jungle to talk to the right people.

It’s your home. It’s the place you retreat to every night after facing a not-always-kind world. It’s the place where you house your family, maybe children and a pet. You don’t want to lose it to a foreclosure.

But if the terms of your home loan are unmanageable – due to loss of income, other unexpected costs, or an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) that is out of sight – you may very well be distressed. If the bank has begun foreclosure proceedings, you can’t help but panic.  It’s your home.

Dealing with large banks – particularly lenders who are not in a building down your street, but are in far away places that you only talk to on the telephone – can only add to your stress. The tangle of voice mail, being put on hold, then talking to a distant bureaucrat who may not seem helpful, all make the process almost impossible.

This is why there are third parties who are helping thousands of homeowners stop foreclosure and negotiate better loan terms. They are loan modification professionals.  They are lawyers and banking finance experts who know the lender’s hot spots – what the lender’s position is. They know the lender really doesn’t want to take possession of your house. It’s usually a loser for them. And, they then lose a customer. When the loan modification specialist can demonstrate to the bank that you, the borrower, would be able to keep up monthly payments but at reduced rates, almost always the bank will agree to recasting the loan terms.

A reputable loan modification firm charges about one month’s house payment, and will return 100% of the fee if they are not successful (they generally can predict success with about 90 percent accuracy).

So of course staying in your home is an emotional experience. But a cool headed professional is who you need to make sure the negotiation is successful.

Maybe you bought a fixer-upper home because you’re handy.  Perhaps you’re good at paint, and know that a good coat of well-selected colors can brighten up any house and any room.

But if your mortgage is what needs fixing – perhaps you have to stop a loan foreclosure – it’s not a weekend project for non-professionals. A difficult, distressed mortgage is the work for professionals, people with the right training and expertise.

First, most people don’t know they can hire an intermediary to work with their mortgage lender. You can — they’re called loan modification specialists. Of course most of us deal with someone in a phone bank to discuss late payments, difficulties, current interest rates, etc., but when you’re trying to recast the terms of your mortgage, you need to talk to someone at a higher level.  Who, and how do you get there? Once you get someone on the phone, how do you get and keep their attention? The average bank home loan officer has 700 cases to work on. They need to be dealt with in a professional, cut-to-the-quick way.

Loan modification intermediaries know lenders – many of them were bankers themselves in the past. Others are real estate and finance attorneys, applying their expertise to your financial and housing well being. When they take on a case, they do so with more than 90 percent confidence they will succeed (they’ll ask preliminary questions to ferret out if your case can be made convincingly). Then they approach your mortgage bank with background knowledge on the bank itself — how expensive would it be for the bank to foreclose on your property? And under what terms, more favorable now to the homeowner, will the lender agree to adjusting the mortgage? It’s a matter of dollars and cents, but it’s also about knowing what to say and to whom.

If you engage a loan modification professional, your chances are greater that you’ll stay in your home — and be able to continue those Do-It-Yourself projects that ultimately add value to the home.

Does it make sense for you to deal with the legal and financial complexities of your troubled mortgage by yourself?

Probably not. In fact, the root of many of the nation’s mortgage woes are because millions of borrowers either didn’t read the fine print or know what the words in the fine print meant. Huge monthly payment increases came as a surprise to many of them, as did the downturn in the market that puts their home “underwater,” worth less than what they are obligated to pay.

Loan modification programs are the answer. A loan modification firm is staffed by attorneys, accountants, and financial experts who understand not only the meanings of the terms, but also the financial position of the mortgage lender. Loan modification experts know that a bank loses in a foreclosure – the bank does not usually gain (particularly in a market such as we have now) by owning properties. The bank also spends money on the foreclosure process itself, therefore, the bank would rather not proceed with foreclosure.

A good loan modification firm can look at your case and determine if you can beat the system, so to speak. Your financial picture, the terms of your mortgage, and the condition of the lender are taken into account by the modification specialists, who then will give you a prognosis. If they think they can win – get you better mortgage payment terms, such as a lower monthly payment because of an overall lower interest rate – they will tell you they can with better than 90 percent certainty. And if the firm is any good, they will also offer a 100 percent money back guarantee.

There are situations where it pays to use a professional. For millions of homeowners, this is one of them. It can help them stop a home loan foreclosure dead in its tracks.