When a bank starts sending notices to homeowners that their property is in foreclosure proceedings, it’s not the end of the story. As one single mother, a homeowner, told a financial news show recently, “I thought it was time to give up, that the horses were out of the barn.”

Fact is, those notices are to be taken seriously. But it’s not like there aren’t options available to them. The government bailout plans are being worked out, but the answer now for millions is in a loan modification program. This is when a mortgage, say an ARM, is recast into a better mortgage package. Instead of paying 10 percent interest, the rate might be lowered to seven or six percent or lower.

Why would a bank agree to such terms? They don’t really want to go into foreclosure. They would rather keep you as a customer, paying a profitable amount to them for years into the future. They want YOU to take care of your house, not THEM. It’s expensive for them to go through the process.

But most people don’t know how to get modified loan terms on their own. They are perplexed by banking terminology, and lack industry knowledge on what to negotiate. 

Enter the loan modification specialists. These are lawyers and accountants who know their industry. They can see where a lower interest rate charged to you still is profitable to the lender.

Check loan modification firms for fair fees (about one month’s mortgage payment), success rate with past cases 90+%) and ask for a money back guaranty (the good ones offer it). They can be a lifeline to the distressed homeowner — and they can save before all the horses have left the barn.

Millions of distressed homeowners fear that a letter from their bank stating they are in pre-foreclosure is the beginning of the end. They sometimes begin to make arrangements to move 60 days before the foreclosure is to take place.

Instead, that letter should be a signal to the homeowner to search for options. Of course, the homeowners knew they had difficulties for months and even years preceding this point. Illness, loss of income, divorce and other circumstances generally create an accumulation of debt that builds gradually. But if the homeowner can show that they have a stream of income of some sort, they should be able to work things out with the bank. Their option includes approaching the bank to see if they can recast the mortgage terms.

Of course, few people are capable of negotiating with banks on their own. This is why many turn to loan modification professionals – lawyers and financial people – to do those negotiations for them. As experienced experts who have knowledge on what a foreclosure costs a bank, the loan modification team can recast the terms of the mortgage that enable the homeowner to retain ownership, stay living in the house and with reduced monthly payments through a lower, locked-in interest rate.

Loan modifications work on a pre-approval basis: they examine a case before taking it on, and if unsuccessful, they return the fees to the homeowner in a money-back guaranty.

Change is not a word most distressed homeowners want to think about. For anyone with an ARM that has taken monthly house payments higher than they can afford, change is bad. Change in employment status, or household earnings that have fallen overall, is not good either.

But if a homeowner can recast their mortgage – bringing the monthly payment to an affordable level – change is a very, very good thing. But is it possible, given the amount of press on the millions of Americans in danger of foreclosure due to adverse circumstantial changes?

Absolutely, change to more affordable mortgage terms is possible. But most people don’t have the savvy to negotiate with their banks. Instead, the smartest thing they can do is to work with a loan modification firm, a team of lawyers, accountants and other home lending experts who works on behalf of the homeowner. The mortgage modification specialists understand bank language, document needs and just how to show a bank that foreclosure is not in the bank’s best interests, either.

Change comes at a price, but it’s exceptionally reasonable and easy to justify. Loan modification companies charge about a month’s mortgage payment. But they can do it with a high degree of certainty – more than 93 percent of loan mod attempts succeed. And for the few that fail, the modification firm should refund the fee (ask about a guaranty upfront).