To listen to the general press, one would assume that a homeowner’s interest rate on their mortgage is written in stone.

News flash to the media and distressed mortgage holders: YOU CAN HAVE YOUR INTEREST RATE CHANGED. Not under all circumstances, but in fact persons facing hardship, even those in pre-foreclosure, are eligible for a recast of their mortgage terms.

Of course, many people are in difficult situations with ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) because they didn’t take the time to read the loan documents, or they didn’t question a mortgage broker or banker when they bought their home or refinanced it in the first place. This is the root of the problem — inability to understand the language of banks and real estate.

Enter the loan modification specialists. These are teams of lawyers and financial experts who work for the holder of a distressed loan. They look at the facts of a case – the borrower’s ability to continue making some payments, albeit reduced, and the facts of the property itself. If they determine the loan terms are likely eligible for adjustment downward (to the homeowner’s benefit), they will go to the lender and make that case. Their advantage is knowing the language and the situation of the lender — in most cases, the bank loses in a foreclosure.

Anyone working with a loan modification specialist should be astute in managing the fee structure: Expect to pay about a month’s payment to the modification consultants, although they should accept that payment in installments, and provide a 100% money back guaranty if not successful.

All in all, it’s a no-lose proposition for anyone facing possible foreclosure or even extremely difficult mortgage terms.

Adjustable rate mortgages, ARMs, started out as a good idea. They allowed people to get better initial terms on their mortgages, to get in the game of home ownership. The thinking was the rate may go up or down, but you could deal with that at three, five or ten years into the future.

Of course, everyone knows that a bad ARM is at the basis of the home foreclosure crisis hitting millions of homeowners today. What borrowers need to do is recast their mortgages, stop foreclosure, through a loan modification.

Which might sound too good to be true. But it is possible to renegotiate your loan terms with the bank, and here’s why: banks do NOT want to foreclose on your loan. The process alone costs them money, and what they end up with is the costly business of owning a property that may very well not sell. Banks want to avoid foreclosures, and they’re willing to negotiate.

Loan modification specialists generally help this process along for most borrowers. The bureaucracy of renegotiating terms with the bank is intimidating to many, and the fact that loan officers are handling a crushing case load are barriers for many distressed individuals in the early stages of foreclosure. By calling in a specialist – generally at a modest fee, less than $400 in most cases – the borrower can be confident the best terms were achieved.

ARMs don’t have to be a regretful choice any longer. Better terms are available for those who act in time.