Loan Mod Profiles: Meet Roderic and Rachel Brame

Propublica:


Earlier this summer, Florida homeowners Roderic and Rachel Brame finally got the help they had been seeking: a permanent reduction on their monthly mortgage payments.

Such reductions can be elusive -- a Holy Grail for many struggling with their mortgages. Homeowners who have started trial modifications through the government's effort [3] to reduce foreclosures have been more likely to be denied than to get the program permanent's fix. For those who do get permanent help through the program, the average payment drops by 36 percent, or $510 a month. The reductions are helpful, though many program participants still have large amounts of debt.

The Brames are among nearly 435,000 homeowners [4] who have finalized modifications through the government's program. Under the program's rules, qualified homeowners make trial payments for three months, at which point their mortgage servicer is supposed to approve or deny a permanent modification. (We've reported that most trial periods have lasted longer [5], frequently dragging on for more than six months.)

Like the majority of homeowners with permanent modifications, the Brames fell behind on their mortgage because of a drop in income. Roderic Brame ran the science department at a Tampa-area private school whose enrollment dropped because of the economy. He learned his contract would not be renewed. As the couple's money troubles worsened, they first called Bank of America in April 2009, but they say they were told -- incorrectly -- that they were eligible for help only once their payments were late. (Almost half of the 373 homeowners who wrote into our questionnaire say they got the same erroneous advice [6].)

After the Brames fell behind, they called their bank again and again. They wrote letters to executives, kept meticulous notes, and worked with a housing counselor from the government-sponsored HOPE Hotline [7]. "I wasn't convinced it would happen until I had the paper in hand," Rachel Brame said.

In early June, they received a FedEx with documents that said their payments were reduced by more than half.

Bank of America spokesman Rick Simon, "We are glad that we were able to qualify them for a modification."

For many, modifications make a critical difference. "It saved my house," said Bernadette Van Lenten, a Florida homeowner. She said the process with servicer, CitiMortgage, was exhausting but worth it.