Dear John: Years ago you wrote an article about the success that your readers were having getting their mortgage rates reduced. Would it be too much trouble if you sent me a link for that article? J.V.

Dear J.V.: I wrote several columns on the subject around July 2003.

Back then it was unheard of for banks to change the terms of home loans. But mortgage companies were getting very competitive and several people told me – that after they threatened to dump their current mortgage and get a loan somewhere else – their banks caved.

One guy got his savings bank to cut his rate from 6 percent to 4 percent. Another saved $200 a month, while someone else reported cutting her mortgage by $600 a month.

But this is 2009 and not 2003, so the rules – and the banking industry – are a lot different.

Instead of threatening to move your business to another bank (“go ahead and try,” your bank will probably say) you should try the sob-story approach. “My job’s in jeopardy; my kid needs braces; We’re so broke we had to switch from bottled water to tap.”

Everyone is getting mortgages restructured. You just have to plead your case well.

But do not – I repeat, do not – stop making payments on your mortgage in order to prove that you are nearly destitute. There is no reason to mess with your credit rating and your ability to borrow money in the future just to convince the bank.

Send your questions to Dear John, The N.Y. Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, N.Y., N.Y., 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.