Modifying your mortgage simply revises the terms of your mortgage contract. It doesn’t impact your ability to refinance a mortgage in the future. “You can refinance after a loan modification and the guidelines vary across the different loan types,” says Hackett. “In some instances, a lender may look for 12 months of on-time payments after a modification before you can refinance. This varies, however, and is also based on whether you were paying on time before the modification.”