How can I get my lender to forgive some of my mortgage debt?

Do I just call my lender? My home value is lower than the mortgage balance (when you combine my primary and secondary loan). If I sold my home, can the bank forgive some of my primary loan? My secondary loan went to credit card debt and student loans so I know it will not be forgiven. If I got a buyer and paid off the secondary loan, can my primary lender forgive the difference?

How can I get my lender to forgive some of my mortgage debt?
They can, they do not have to.





Since it sounds like you are selling you need to contact them about doing a short sale. You have to be in foreclosure before you will qualify.
Reply:Lenders are not required to forgive mortgage debt when property values decline. In some states the lender may require you repay the debt, particularly if you have other assets.





If they do forgive some of or all debt, they are required to inform the IRS stating the amount of debt forgiven, and you may have to pay taxes on it. There is an exception to this rule however, "under a short sale if the loan is a non-recourse loan the lender does not have the legal right to collect a deficiency judgment from any assets of the debtor not pledged to secure the loan." To read more about this, please go to http://www.realtor.org and do a search on "Lender forgive debt" or "Debt Forgiveness."
Reply:You can call your lender and beg for them to lower the value of your mortage. You could ask for a short sale, which is to ask the lender to allow you to sell your house for less than what it is worth. The chances of your primary lender forgiving your first mortage if you pay off the second (the one that went to paying off unsecured debt) is probably not going to happen either, especially if each mortage is backed by a different lender.





Right now now many lenders are willing to work with people on their mortgages.
Reply:You simply need to contact the "Loan Modification" dept of your lender. There you can ask for one or both of the following...


1) Modify your loan rate/payment and/or


2) Modify the loan amount to current value


Right now almost all lenders are offering some sort of Modification to save from having file for a foreclosure.





Don't fall for the people saying they can do this for you for a fee. You can do this yourself with no legal representation.
Reply:To my knowledge it cannot be forgotten. Your lender is a for profit company and they would much rather you take the loss than them.





A lot of people today are being turned "Upside Down" in their home mortgages, it's causes a lot of foreclosures.





My best advice would be, perhaps, calling a debt consolidation place or speaking with a financial advisor.





I work at a bank, and if the amount was loaned, thats what they expect back.
Reply:You signed the papers, you know what you where getting into, sorry the property values went down but that is life. Live with it If someone owed you thousands would you forgive a part , a large part of their debt because what they bought from you was not worth what they paid? I highly doubt it so why should the banks?