After processing your application, which can take 90 days or longer, your lender may ask you to make a series of three trial payments. These payments are likely to be lower than your current payment amount, but may or may not reflect the payments proposed in a final mortgage modification offer.
Generally, once you've locked in a mortgage rate, the terms are fixed and usually cannot be renegotiated. However, some lenders offer a float down option, allowing you to negotiate mortgage rates if market conditions shift favorably during the rate lock-in period.
The top candidates for mortgage modification are homeowners behind on their payments, or in danger of falling behind, and those who are faced with potential foreclosure as a result of unanticipated or unavoidable (and demonstrable) financial hardship.