Phone Tag: You’re it!

When dealing with a mortgage company, especially when trying to get a loan modification, it helps to know what to expect. The first thing to know and understand, is that once you get a negotiator assigned to your loan, no matter how many times you call, or messages you leave, they will not call you back. If they call you, it’s because they were looking at your file and saw something that was missing, or needed to fill in a blank.

The simple truth of the matter is that they just have too many files they are working to be able to call everyone back to answer a question, or give an update. And while this is incredibly frustrating for most of us, it comes with the territory. Some negotiators will work a modification from beginning to end (sometimes up to 90 days) without ever speaking with the homeowner.

This means a couple of things to you. First, don’t wait for them to call you back; keep calling until you reach them if you have a question you need answered. Sometimes just speaking to the customer service rep is enough to get what you need, but when it’s not, don’t be afraid to continue making calls until you are connected to the person you need to speak with.

Second, if you can get an email address for the negotiator, do it! While they often keep their phone extensions as secret as the location of Area 51, the email address is usually easier to obtain, and far more valuable. The reason for this is that getting involved in a phone call can sometimes lead to the negotiator being tied up on the phone for 25, 30, 45 minutes or even an hour, answering the same questions over and over again. Not a productive use of time, because nothing gets done. An email is much simpler. It takes just a few seconds to read, and they can respond in another few seconds, succinctly, and without interfering with their work flow.

At the end of the day, you are 100 times more likely to get a response to an email than a phone call, even if it’s just to say that there is no update right now. So if you have access to email, use it as your primary means to contact the negotiator if you can. If you can’t get the email address, well then, be prepared to make many, many phone calls.