Take it from me. I used to work for a loan modification company as a paralegal/negotiator for a number of years. For anyone that is thinking about paying money for a service such as this, keep in mind that you are asking someone that doesn't care about your situation as much as you, to perform something that you can do on your own. Banks know this and oftentimes gives these law firms, which allow outside companies to use their name in order to share in profits, a hard time because of the amount of up front fees that they charge. Some of these outfits will charge as much as $6, 000 +. Anyone with average intelligence can call the bank (and speak to a Negotiator) and say I have X amount of dollars (Usually about two months payment), and I make X amount of dollars a month, what options do I have? They are going to ask you about your expenses including how much you spend on groceries. Don't lie about your income because they often will want to see proof. Don't say you have money saved that you don't either because if you come up short they will deny your plan. Be as honest as you can with them. It all comes down to this; If your financials show that you can afford the house, you'll be ok. Keep in mind that the money left over after paying all of your expenses will be used by the lender to figure out how much you can pay towards your mortgage. Also, tell them what happened to put you in the situation. Often it's medical, or job loss, or car problems etc. This makes a difference with them. They really want to know what happened. Don't tell them the interest rates got too high and you couldn't afford it anymore, from my experiences they don't like that. Good luck.