Many Americans have been affected by the recent economic crisis. Millions of homes have gone into foreclosure, and millions of families have lost their homes. If you are at risk for losing your home, the good news is that there is something you can do about it, but it largely depends on your ability to get back on the right track financially. If your lender agrees to a mortgage loan modification, you have a good chance for saving your home from foreclosure, and avoid the nightmare of losing your home.
Mortgage lenders are not required to agree to a loan modification, so it is up to you to prove to them that your own financial crisis is only temporary, and that you will be able to start making payments on your mortgage again. Not all lenders are created the same, so here is a list of the top 10 loan modification lenders:
Top 10 Lenders
1. Wells Fargo & Company: As of March of 2013, Wells Fargo, whose vision is “We want to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially”, is the best ranked financial institution in market value in the country.
- The company has its headquarters in San Francisco, but serves its U.S. and international customers through their 9,000 stores, their website and their 12,000 ATMs. Wells Fargo offers their 70 million clients worldwide services such as banking, mortgage and insurance, and is an industry leader in the U.S., being the first ranked retail mortgage lender and mortgage servicer in the country.
2. JP Morgan Chase: One of the largest financial services company in the world, JP Morgan Chase started its business more than 200 years ago.
- The firm has assets of $2.4 trillion, and operates in the Unites States, as well as internationally, in more than 60 countries.
- Some of the services offered to the U.S. customers include credit cards, home finance, education finance, retirement, auto finance and investing.
3. Citigroup: Citigroup opened its doors for the first time in 1812. It only had 1 branch and 22 employees. Today, it is one of the best-known financial institutions, operating in 160 countries and territories, and employing more than 260,000 people.
- Since 2007, Citigroup, through Citi Mortgage, has helped over 1 million people to avoid foreclosure. The company also launched its Road to Recovery program, to support afflicted U.S. homeowners.
4. Ocwen Financial Corporation: With an experience of more than 20 years, Ocwen is the leading high-risk loan servicer in the country.
- Ocwen is based in Dunwoody, Georgia, but has offices in other cities across the country, too, and has a license to service loans in all U.S. states and territories.
- Since February 1, 2013, GMAC Mortgage transferred part of its loans to Ocwen.
5. Bank of America: This multinational financial corporation is one of the country’s largest bank holding companies. Along with its competitors, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, Bank of America is one of the Big Four banks in the U.S.
- Bank of America and its subsidiaries, Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust, offer its clients a wide range of services, such as consumer banking, mortgage, corporate banking, credit cards and wealth management.
6. U.S. Bank: The 5th largest bank in America, U.S. Bank, has assets totaling more than $355 billion. The company offers financial services to consumers in more than 25 U.S. states, and has operations in Europe and Canada, as well.
- U.S. Bank was ranked first in customer satisfaction three years in a row (2010-2012), and over the years has received numerous rankings and awards.
7. PNC Bank: PNC Bank is the main subsidiary of PNC Financial. The firm is headquartered in downtown Pittsburg, PA, and has over 50,000 employees.
- PNC is one of the country’s top mortgage lenders, with a loan portfolio of $122 billion. The company has over 90 mortgage offices in the U.S. and 2,800 Retail Banking stores, where its customers are served by knowledgeable mortgage professionals.
8. SunTrust Bank: This financial firm was established in Atlanta, Georgia, and operates in several states in Southeastern U.S.
- As of March 2013, SunTrust has $173 billion in assets, and approximately 30,000 employees, who work together to offers quality financial services to U.S. clients. Some of the bank’s offerings are mortgage banking, credit and deposit services, retail banking, as well as insurance, asset management and mutual funds.
9. Provident Funding: Provident was founded in 1992, and is the country’s second largest private mortgage firm.
- The company is licensed in 47 U.S. states, has a $60 billion loan servicing portfolio and more than 280,000 clients.
- Freddie Mac’s “Top 25” ranked Provident the best servicer for default management, and it also named the mortgage company “Hall of Fame Servicer”.
10. Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T): Headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, BB&T operates in 12 states, has over 1,800 branches and more than 30,000 employees.
- BB&T received many awards, and is recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for outstanding customer satisfaction.
Having an open line of communication with your lender is very important, and will help you to easier reach an agreement with them. Lenders are not obligated to give you a mortgage loan modification, but being upfront and honest with them will certainly increase your chances of saving your home from foreclosure, and painlessly get back on your feet financially.