Hi Mary,
There is good news and there is not so good news. FIRST the "not so good"....Countrywide is the most difficult of the lenders to deal with. Why is anyone's guess but they are just plain difficult. SO...yes unfortunately they are going to make you m,iss up to 3 payments before they will talk to you about a new loan....HOWEVER
>> under this new "stimulus" package of the President's IF YOUR HOME IS WORTH LESS THAN YOU OWE...they may be required by law to work with you BEFORE you 'tank' your credit. SO watch the news like there is no, I mean NO tomorrow....I am in the same boat. So that is (1st) possiblity.
>> A second possiblity (2) is to be late on one payment...it goes against your credit because they will turn you in immediately (as if they get great pleasure from ruining people) to the credit reporting co...and it will be a "ding" in the grand scope of things but then ON YOUR INSISTANCE ("things like: Let me speak to your manager!" and then speak to them....do not whim...just state the facts and be sure to get their names, etc. and keep a record of time, date and who you spoke with in all this.....because now you are going to send your Congressman/woman a report of how you are being treated and the answers you are getting from these 'lenders"....and do not be afraid to be stern, (not angry, not nasty, just stern) DO NOT FORGET how much of our tax money THEY got just to stay in business....remind your public officials about this too. This is not the easiest road to go down but it is one of the only ones available until we get more information. Get to work....it is terribly time consuming but to my way of thinkin' it is the only PRO-ACTIVE avenue we have. If the public officals don't know about the problems they can't try to fix them....and right now they SAY they want to fix them. (I have my doubts but eventually we may get SOMETHING done and honestl.y that is all we have. better to be in 'action' than to sit on our collective hands and cry about it!)
Good Luck

Sharon Trenary, Broker-Associate
GRI, CES, LTG, CBR, etc
Allison James Estates & HOmes in FLorida

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. My answer may not be the one you're looking for. Selling your home might be the best option for you. I personally made this choice on my own home after a divorce. I technically could afford it but I'd have no quality of life. I'd rather enjoy life than worry about making a large payment each month.

The other choice is a roommate to help cover the costs.

Best of luck to you and maybe someone else will have some advice for you! Thoughts and prayers to you...