Struggling in Casa Grande, AZ

[Joel Fraser]

I currently have a 40/30 adjustable rate balloon note on a $208.4K single family home. My interest rate is locked in at 8.2% until October. Then it can increase as high as 14.2%. We currently pay $1478/mo and the truth-in-lending disclosure statement says that in December our payment will increase to $1862 (confusing to me since it's an adjustable rate:confused:). The value of the homes in this area dropped to a mean of $150K So we're upside down at least $50 to $60K. I would definitely like to get a loan modification but will they also consider locking me into a lower fixed rate at the same time? Or do you have to do one at a time? We didn't plan on still being in this home but since the market bottomed out we don't have a choice. We're already $800 short every month in bills thanks to the price of gas & really can't even afford what we're paying for a mortgage right now. Is there a thread that identifies all of the paperwork that needs to be sent in in order to request a loan modification? I hadn't seen one. Are there any other options we have?