 TITLE: How Can I Get a Mortgage Modification? CONTENT: How Does a Mortgage Loan Modification Affect Your Credit?\n---------------------------------------------------------\nLenders may report your loan modification to the national credit bureaus, and its appearance on your credit report could adversely affect your credit score. The long-term impact of a mortgage modification typically will be less severe and long-lasting than the damage done by foreclosure.\nIn the case of mortgage modification programs that require you to be delinquent on your payments to qualify, your credit report will reflect missed payments in addition to the modification itself. Depending on your credit history and the credit score you had before those missed payment(s), your first delinquency could cause a greater drop in credit score than a subsequent mortgage modification would.\nIf a mortgage modification works as intended and allows you to stay in your house and resume regular on-time mortgage payments, you will be well positioned to rebuild your credit and restore your credit score within a few years—a much better prospect than having a foreclosure on your credit report for seven years from the date of the first delinquency that led to it. (Credit scores can recover significantly within the seven years following foreclosure, but many lenders view a foreclosure on your credit report as grounds for declining a loan application.) END