The Hardship Letter: Four Points to Make When Seeking a Home Loan Modification or Short Sale

Many a homeowner has been "inspired" to do-it-yourself-dom by a traumatic encounter with a bad contractor (traumatic to the psyche -- or the pocketbook). In the same vein, the spate of loan modification scammers who have taken thousands from already struggling homeowners in return for false promises to fix their broken adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), get their principal balances slashed and even save long-defaulted, deeply underwater homes from the foreclosure auction block has served as inspiration for many a homeowner to go the loan mod route themselves.