March 10th, 2009 by michael e. riley
When it comes to being behind on the mortgage payment, there is nothing worse because your home is the biggest bill you have and the one that is probably the most important. So when you are not able to pay the mortgage company, you are probably not able to pay a lot of other companies. This means that your credit has taken a huge hit and you are probably getting collection calls left and right from people who want their money and they want it now. If you do not have the cash on hand to bring your account up to date, then a foreclosure refinance may be your best option.
A foreclosure refinance is where you get your loan refinanced while you are in the middle of a foreclosure process. Luckily, laws allow for homeowners to seek that option …
Read the rest »
March 9th, 2009 by Geoff Marks
If you ever wondered what the official Mortgage Modification Guidelines look like, we provided the highlights of the program below.”Making Home Affordable” will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners, making their mortgages more affordable and helping to prevent the destructive impact of foreclosures on families, communities and the national economy.
The “Home Affordable Refinance” program will be available to 4 to 5 million homeowners who have a solid payment history on an existing mortgage owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Normally, these borrowers would be unable to refinance because their homes have lost value, pushing their current loan-to-value ratios above 80%. Under the “Home Affordable Refinance” program, many of them will now be eligible to refinance their loan to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates or to refinance …
Read the rest »
March 6th, 2009 by michael e. riley
When it comes to taxes, there are so many different numbers and bits and pieces of information that you need to be aware of, that it is no wonder we find them so confusing.
There are very few people in the world today who are not at least a little bit confused on the topic of taxes. There are so many different details and issues that you need to be concerned with, and so it can be hard to get a full grasp on it all and really understand it. One of the most unusual and difficult to understand tax topics is mortgage debt relief tax.
What it is
Basically what the term mortgage debt relief tax refers to is those situations in which the person realizes that they have a mortgage that they are unable to afford. This is …
Read the rest »
March 4th, 2009 by michael e. riley
Some people put way too much faith in the government and have created these false notions in their minds about exactly how much service the government will offer in any given situation. With the growing foreclosure crisis, and the increasing news coverage regarding the government’s proposed involvement in bailing out troubled borrowers, (such as HASP or Mortgage Relief), many people are developing misconceptions about exactly what HUD foreclosure help really is. For example, some people actually believe that HUD foreclosure help means that HUD will be paying their mortgage for them and allowing them to keep their homes. This is absolutely not true. Remember that HUD will only directly get involved if laws are being broken. Beyond that HUD foreclosure help is a lot of advice and enforcement of codes and laws put into place to protect the borrower. So …
Read the rest »
February 28th, 2009 by michael e. riley
In the past when homeowners were faced with job loss or a change in circumstances that restricted their ability to afford their home and were not able to pay their mortgage they would have the option to refinance with lower interest rates or sell their property. For most currently this is no longer a viable option.
Struggling homeowners cannot refinance due to plunging property values resulting in upside down mortgages, and even when they find a buyer for their property there is the challenge of not be able to sell for enough to repay the outstanding balance.
According to the data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) 11% of the nation’s home mortgages were delinquent by at least one payment, already in foreclosure or entering foreclosure. 7% of mortgage were at least 1 month past due and 3% of the …
Read the rest »
February 25th, 2009 by michael e. riley
Refinancing Under New Housing Plan can be confusing. Below examples provided by the US Treasury Department will help you understand the new Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP). Find out if you can refinance or lower your mortgage under the new plan.
Family A: Access to Refinancing
- In 2006: Family A took a 30-year fixed rate mortgage of $207,000 on a house worth $260,000 at the time. (The family put just over 20% down.) They received a Fannie Mae conforming loan with an interest rate of 6.50%.
- Today: Family A has about $200,000 remaining on their mortgage but their home value has fallen 15 percent to $221,000.
- Their “loan-to-value” ratio is now 90%, making them ineligible for a Fannie Mae refinancing.
Under the Refinancing Plan: Family A can refinance to a rate of 5.16%. This would reduce their annual payments …
Read the rest »
February 24th, 2009 by dmitriy
Housing Plan to Reduce Mortgage Payment
Many of homeowners have questions regarding the President Barack Obama’s Housing Plan. A lot of Americans are in various stages of foreclosure and the help can not come soon enough. So who is eligible?
The program is expected to help those who are in danger of not making their monthly payments. The applicants do not have to be behind, but may be asked to demonstrate that they may be short on making their monthly payments. The program’s eligibility is determined by whether the monthly mortgage payment is above 31% of applicant’s gross income. Jumbo loans (the loans over $417,000) are not eligible and neither are second mortgages.
The lenders and loan servicers are encouraged to participate in the program by receiving subsidies and various incentives from the government but are not otherwise required …
Read the rest »
February 23rd, 2009 by michael e. riley
Presently the banks are often unable to help reduce mortgage rates for homeowners that are current on their loans. The Obama’s proposed plan is designed to alleviate the situation by encouraging banks to refinance or modify mortgages for responsible homeowners even if they are not yet behind on their payments.
Read the rest »
February 20th, 2009 by Geoff Marks
mortgage modification program – Nearly 9.5 million households, or nearly one out of every five of the nearly 52 million homeowners with a mortgage, spend 38 percent or more of their pretax income on their mortgage payment, property taxes and insurance, the AP’s analysis found. That’s the new threshold to qualify for the loan assistance program launched last month by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies now under government control.
Read the rest »
February 19th, 2009 by michael e. riley
stop foreclosure
Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday in an interview that it’s critically important that banks and lending institutions “step up to the plate” to help make certain the Obama administration’s new home foreclosure initiative succeeds.
“This started as a mortgage crisis but it’s become a jobs crisis,” said Donovan following the announcement of the $75 billion plan to help prevent foreclosures.
In an interview with the “Today” show on NBC Donovan stated that the administration feels confident that enough requirements are put in place to ensure refinancing by the banks which will “tip the balance for millions of homeowners.”
Sheila Bair of Federal Deposit Insurance Company stated that the while some foreclosures will be unavoidable, the plan should help bring the foreclosure levels to the historical averages.
The plan’s key provision for mortgage modification will only benefit the …
Read the rest »
Tags: