You may have been hearing about a government program that you can apply for that will help you to reorganize your loan through the bank or with your lender to make your mortgage payments affordable. If you have lost one of your incomes or you have had to take a job that pays less, you could possibly modify your loan.
The HAMP program is designed to make staying in your home affordable enough that you can stay in it rather than going into foreclosure. The idea is to help between 7 and 9 million homeowners to keep their homes in America. If your loan is a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan, you are the target applicant for this program.
With the unstable and dropping home values, many people who tried to refinance their loans were unable to. Since the value of homes has dropped dramatically in the last few years, the loan to value ratios of those needing to refinance was unacceptable.
One thing you will need to determine is whether or not your loan is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. There are websites that you can go to for that information. Remember that you may be asked for your social security number when you check with Freddie Mac so be sure you are talking to a legitimate representative of a reputable company before you divulge personal information. Fannie Mae should not even ask for it.
If it turns out that you are backed by either, make note of which one it is. Then head over to the government website that discusses eligibility for a loan modification. Your loan must have been taken out before 2009. Your current mortgage can't be higher than 105% of the value of your home.
Something else you need to be aware of. This might be obvious, but you must have a steady income that would support the new mortgage payments. Your mortgage can't be delinquent. In the past year you can't have fallen behind even once. You must have no 30 day late payments.
This program is primarily for refinancing your current loan so you can pay an amount that is more manageable and won't cause you to fall behind so easily. If you could pay less each month on your house your stress in keeping up could be relieved and the lender will also be relieved of having to go through a foreclosure.