If you're on the verge of losing your home, or you know someone who is, then you also know about the long, bureaucratic process involved in applying for a loan modification from a lender. The most common approach is to apply under the new Home Affordability Mortgage Program (HAMP), but lenders also accept modifications from mortgage holders because lenders really don't want to take the house – they just want their money.

In many cases, however, the approval process takes longer than many homeowners can afford. One expert believes it doesn't have to be that way, and there are solutions for homeowners to get a faster response.

"Applying for a loan modification can be an extremely stressful process," said Stephfan Nurse, CEO of Consumer Education, makers of Mortgage Reduction software designed to help people through the modification process, and who has been in the loan modification business since 2009. "Even if you send in your documents and your lender tells you everything is okay, you may still have a great amount of anxiety because you have no idea what the lender is doing with your file, and may not understand why it will take so long. There are reasons, however, why the process drags, and there are ways to move it along, if you understand what goes on behind the scenes."

Nurse's tips include:

• Account Numbers – It often happens that when you fax your paperwork to your lender, the lender either says they lost your paperwork or they just didn't receive it all. This isn't because they are incompetent. It's because they receive thousands of faxes daily, and they use an image scanning technology to capture them all and place them in appropriate files. In that system, a cover sheet that has your account number on it will get placed correctly, but if the attached sheets lack your account number they can be easily misplaced. The solution is to put your account number on every page you fax, so they have a better chance of placing all your paperwork in your file.

• Complete the Paperwork – When your file gets assigned to a document manager, typically about 30 days after you first applied for the modification, the document manager's job is to check to make sure all your required documents are ready to be submitted to the negotiator/specialist for review. If there is an incomplete file, even if just one single required document is missing, the document manager will note your account as having an incomplete file and move on to the next file. If this happens, a generic letter is automatically mailed to you requesting the missing information. It can take up to two weeks for you to get this letter, and another two to four weeks before they look at your updated information. Never send an incomplete package to your lender. It can lead to a delay or even a denial.

• Follow Up – Finally, follow up every week with your lender to make sure all the documents they have are up to date. Don't worry about being a pest. After all, it's your house on the line. If you do this consistently, you will avoid getting caught in the modification delay cycle.

"The process is like any other, and it can be rife with mistakes and bureaucratic snafus," Nurse added. "But if you take the steps to reduce the opportunities for error, your application can move through the process much faster and you'll have a much better chance at being approved."