Unexpected mortgage write-off saves home

Lakeland, Fl. - Mike Rochinich and his wife bought their home in Lakeland in 2006. He thought they were getting a fixed mortgage but got an unwelcome surprise just before closing.

"The only loan that we could be approved for, an adjustable 8.45%," said Rochinich.

And in April, that interest rate jumped to more than 11%.

With the increase in taxes and insurance, Rochinich says his house payment increased $800 a month from what it had been two years ago.

"When we got the news it was going to go up to 22-hundred, we were just on the verge of saying it's going to foreclose," said Rochinich.

Rochinich convinced his mortgage holder to freeze the rate for another year, but he knew he needed additional help getting out of his adjustable mortgage.

"I found this New American Funding based in California," said Rochinich.

Rochinich says New American Funding found him a new FHA loan, but for $55,000 less than what was owed on his original loan from HSBC. He thought he was going to lose his home, but the company was going to try one more thing and call him back.

"My wife was in tears, I was in tears and that 20 minutes was the longest 20 minutes of my life," Rochinich said.

New American Funding worked out a deal Rochinich didn't think was possible.

"20 minutes later he called me back, he said the mortgage company agreed to write off that 55-thousand dollars. That was huge," Rochinich said.

Now Rochinich is in a fixed rate mortgage with payments he can afford. He's avoided foreclosure, and saved his American dream.

Rochinich paid New American Funding $1,000 up front to find him a new loan. And he says it was worth every penny.

Non-profit agencies like the Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation will help you with foreclosures free of charge.

Here are others who will help with foreclosures for free.

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) / Federal Housing Administration (FHA)1-800-225-5342, www.fha.gov/fhasecure

• Hope Now Alliance

1-888-995-4673, http://www.hopenow.com/

• Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Florida and the Florida Gulf Coast, Inc., 1-800-741-7040, www.cccsfl.org

• St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services

(727) 821-6897,www.stpetenhs.org

• Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation

727-446-6222, http://www.tampabaycdc.org/homeownership/foreclosure.htm

· Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services

(727) 442-4155, www.cnhs.biz