Refinancing: Obama Stimuli Plan.

[Schlenkerla]

This is not a debate topic.

Does anybody know where you can get info on refinancing for a mortgage at a lower rate. There is a lot of scamming crap out there right now. I just wondered if anybody has ran across it lately.

I think I qualify. I lost my job and could use the lower rates.

Thanks!!!

 

[brewmasterpa]

888-995-hope is the generic number. you talk to a director so to speak, then they transfer to a counselor, then you go from there. counselor will tell you whether you can qualify for a modification. the other thing to look into is the H4H program through HUD. hope for homeowners is the accronym. you speak with another lender that is qualified and certified to operate under the program and they establish a new loan for you and midigate a release from your current lender. google hope for homeowners and a few hud and fha pages will come up. on one of those pages, you should find a list of lenders that participate. pick one and call em. theres lots of options out there right now. but those 2 are your best bet.

 

[Boodlemania]

First step I would recommend is to contact your current mortgage holder.

 

[brewmasterpa]

if youre not late on your mortgage, your lender wont do anything at all. they wont even talk to you, theyll say theres nothing they can do. the second program i mentioned if for people in your exact position that know theyre going to run into troubles later due to income loss. your lender will only work with you if youre coming up on foreclosure and theyre going to utilize the tools that work best for them, not for you. the h4h program secures a mortgage that works best for you.

 

[Schlenkerla]

if youre not late on your mortgage, your lender wont do anything at all. they wont even talk to you, theyll say theres nothing they can do. the second program i mentioned if for people in your exact position that know theyre going to run into troubles later due to income loss. your lender will only work with you if youre coming up on foreclosure and theyre going to utilize the tools that work best for them, not for you. the h4h program secures a mortgage that works best for you.

Thanks - I will call the number you gave me. I kind of figured that my lender won't do squat for me since I'm update to date on payments. A few callers said to do this as well. (call my lender for rate adjustment)

I wanted to steer clear of new lenders that want me to buy points or pay a bunch of fees.

SWMBO was saying Obama has a plan to keep people out of trouble. I read that you need to below the 80% mark, up-to-date on payments and still have the ability to pay once the rate is lowered. I think they also exclude people with jumbo loans too.

I don't want free money, just a lower rate until I can gain employment.

 

[jgln]

if youre not late on your mortgage, your lender wont do anything at all. they wont even talk to you, theyll say theres nothing they can do. the second program i mentioned if for people in your exact position that know theyre going to run into troubles later due to income loss. your lender will only work with you if youre coming up on foreclosure and theyre going to utilize the tools that work best for them, not for you. the h4h program secures a mortgage that works best for you.

My neighbor lost his job and called the bank the next day and they were glad he called and are currently working on a program that may help him keep his house before he has to liquidate all his stuff. It is worth a try to call them anyway to see what they say. He told me a few times now if I lose my job to call my lender first thing.

 

[mmb]

Call your local credit union. They should at least be able to point you in a direction. My wife gets these questions all the time (mortgage originator at a credit union)

 

[brewmasterpa]

you can call youre lender, but im pretty sure they wont do anything for you, thats the case most of the time. doesnt hurt to call though. obamas plan doesnt do much except lower the rate a bit and thats all. the h4h program does so much more. the only thing is that the lenders have to agree to cooperate, its voluntary. if youre in trouble and behind, they are more willing to get out from under the liability.

 

[The Pol]

Why do you need a special "plan" to refi?

My nighbors refinanced at 4.5%... no special govt. plan. That is just where the rate was, and they wanted to refi. Cant you just go to the lender and refinance at the new lower rate?

I am confused.

 

[brewmasterpa]

if you have no equity in your house and youre "under water" no bank is going to refi you. thats the point of the programs. almost everybody is under water right now.

 

[brewmasterpa]

oh, and just so everybody knows, the h4h program was signed by bush, not obama. thats a solution that actually works and works for anybody that needs it. obamas plan works for very few people and only does a small amount to help. not that any of that matters, i was just throwing it out there

 

[The Pol]

if you have no equity in your house and youre "under water" no bank is going to refi you. thats the point of the programs. almost everybody is under water right now.

By under water, do you mean owe more than the home is worth? Okay... I get it... didnt realize that.

 

[humann_brewing]

By under water, do you mean owe more than the home is worth? Okay... I get it... didnt realize that.

Yep, that is where I am at right now. I am waiting for a call back from my lender after the details of the Obama plan comes out. I am hoping it is good news.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Why do you need a special "plan" to refi?

My nighbors refinanced at 4.5%... no special govt. plan. That is just where the rate was, and they wanted to refi. Cant you just go to the lender and refinance at the new lower rate?

I am confused.

I can refi, but I'm just looking for a rate drop. I don't think my lender will do the drop. I should ask first. I also don't want to use valuable cash to refi or roll the charges back into the loan.

Being unemployed might make it harder to refi, new appraisal, lower income...

 

[spitfire]

if youre not late on your mortgage, your lender wont do anything at all. they wont even talk to you, theyll say theres nothing they can do. the second program i mentioned if for people in your exact position that know theyre going to run into troubles later due to income loss. your lender will only work with you if youre coming up on foreclosure and theyre going to utilize the tools that work best for them, not for you. the h4h program secures a mortgage that works best for you.

This is not true. There are new programs out that will actually only help people if they have not been late in the last 12 months. I am not saying you will qualify, I am just correcting an an incorrect statement.

First thing you do is call your current mortgage company and speak with them. Come back here and tell us what they say and go from there.

 

[Schlenkerla]

This is not true. There are new programs out that will actually only help people if they have not been late in the last 12 months. I am not saying you will qualify, I am just correcting an an incorrect statement.

First thing you do is call your current mortgage company and speak with them. Come back here and tell us what they say and go from there.

Great Idea! - I will do that, it can't hurt to ask.

 

[spitfire]

This is for brewmasterpodunkarizona, you seem to know a lot about the mortgage industry so I assume you work in the industry. A new program was released yesterday or today that is geared to help people who are not behind......yet. That is designed to keep them from being behind.

Our rep at Wells sent us the info today. Should be a decent program as long as they actually let people qualify and not use it as a political thing like some other programs have been.

 

[brewmasterpa]

i dont work in the industry, ive just been in trouble for about 6 months now on my mortgage and have done A LOT of research. i work for gm and that kinda says it all. by the way, what i said and you stated as untrue, is true. you might do as much research as i have and youd understand. as far as the newest programs that have been released in the last 24-48 hours, im unaware of anything that new. if youre paying up to date, why would the lender be enticed to change anything if youre a reliable source of income for them??? thats the whole point. you have to be in trouble. obama was talking about coming up with a program that would entice lenders to modify loans that will be in trouble later, but thats also for certain circumstances and its also backed by treasury bills that are being purchased by china. do you want china to have an interest in your home?

 

[spitfire]

I actually do work in the industry and have done so for the last 9 years. There is a new program that is/will be available for people who are not currently behind.

You said
if youre paying up to date, why would the lender be enticed to change anything if youre a reliable source of income for them??? thats the whole point.

you are right, the problem is. Your current lender had no idea what is going on with your employer. You could be laid off tomorrow for all they know. If they start a program now that will lower your monthly payment and you do get laid off, odds are you will still be able to make your payment and they will still make income off you.

 

[brewmasterpa]

well i guess im behind the 8-ball on info then. i was planning on applying for the h4h program and have been hesitant to do so for the last 6 months because i have countrywide for a 1st and 2nd and they wouldnt cooperate until april 1st and i have a
3rd mortgage servicer who is only interested in playing bait and switch games and says they will not cooperate with any program. heres the problem for them. theyre 3rd in line and would have to purchase the 1st and 2nd notes to foreclose. if they did that, theyre fixing to lose about 115,000 dollars. so theyre kinda screwed. i will probably contact a lender in the near future about the h4h program.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I actually do work in the industry and have done so for the last 9 years. There is a new program that is/will be available for people who are not currently behind.

You said
if youre paying up to date, why would the lender be enticed to change anything if youre a reliable source of income for them??? thats the whole point.

you are right, the problem is. Your current lender had no idea what is going on with your employer. You could be laid off tomorrow for all they know. If they start a program now that will lower your monthly payment and you do get laid off, odds are you will still be able to make your payment and they will still make income off you.

This seem right. I am laid off, SWMBO is working. We can barely make ends right now. If we live really, really, cheap we won't go in the hole. I have a newborn right now, if he needs to eat, well we will go in the hole.

I am a responsible person, the only debt I have is my house. I'd just like to be able to get a little cushion until I can get a job. A lower rate can get me another $200-300 for grocieries. Not to mention formula....


- I filled for unemployment a week before my son was born. Being proactive. Did so the day after I was laid off. Would you believe those farkers would NOT let me claim a dependent? My son drinks over $100 of formula a month and those farkers will let me have an extra $14 a week. I'm fighting those bastards purely out of principle.

 

[jgln]

I actually do work in the industry and have done so for the last 9 years. There is a new program that is/will be available for people who are not currently behind.

You said
if youre paying up to date, why would the lender be enticed to change anything if youre a reliable source of income for them??? thats the whole point.

you are right, the problem is. Your current lender had no idea what is going on with your employer. You could be laid off tomorrow for all they know. If they start a program now that will lower your monthly payment and you do get laid off, odds are you will still be able to make your payment and they will still make income off you.

My bank contacted me about refinance. They can drop it a point but back to a 30 yr loan. With all the interest we paid in the first 2 years of the loan and going back again 2 years to even more just about all interest payments (back end of a fixed rate loan) to me it looks like we would lose not save in the short and long term. Sound right?

 

[Schlenkerla]

FYI - For anybody else in my situation: Important News > Having Trouble Making Payments?

 

[Schlenkerla]

This is not true. There are new programs out that will actually only help people if they have not been late in the last 12 months. I am not saying you will qualify, I am just correcting an an incorrect statement.

First thing you do is call your current mortgage company and speak with them. Come back here and tell us what they say and go from there.

I called them they stated that I am eligible. They said the program is too new to do anything today. They took my name down and said I'm on the list of call backs for the program. By the end of the month they should be able to help me. They say this is all new and that information for the program is being pulled together. I imagine they have a bunch of system changes to make.

Great Idea! - I will do that, it can't hurt to ask.

Spitfire is right so far, it didn't hurt to call them. They also said they got a bunch of new information just today.

 

[jgln]

I called them they stated that I am eligible. They said the program is too new to do anything today. They took my name down and said I'm on the list of call backs for the program. By the end of the month they should be able to help me. They say this is all new and that information for the program is being pulled together. I imagine they have a bunch of system changes to make.



Spitfire is right so far, it didn't hurt to call them. They also said they got a bunch of new information just today.

Exactly what my neighbor said his bank told him. They have so many people in trouble they are not so quick to start foreclosure proceedings on anyone so fast. They are on a waiting list too.

 

[keelanfish]

I spoke with my lender (regions bank) and they said there is a program that allows for consolidation of all mortgages, up to 105% of the home's appraised value, to a new FHA loan at the rate your credit score currently allows. The one caviat is that you have to be current in your payments and have the good credit score the get the good rates.

 

[Liquidicem]

I spoke with my lender (regions bank) and they said there is a program that allows for consolidation of all mortgages, up to 105% of the home's appraised value, to a new FHA loan at the rate your credit score currently allows. The one caviat is that you have to be current in your payments and have the good credit score the get the good rates.

I'm looking at the same thing with my lender right now as well. It is basically a program for people with good credit, but not enough equity in their home (generally due to declining market values) to qualify for a standard refinance into todays lower rates.

 

[jgln]

When you are offered the lower rate does it pick up where you left off with you current mortgage (say 25 years) or put you back into a new 15-30 year mortgage? That is where I have problems with refinancing, I think you need to look at that too not just a lower rate.

 

[spitfire]

I spoke with my lender (regions bank) and they said there is a program that allows for consolidation of all mortgages, up to 105% of the home's appraised value, to a new FHA loan at the rate your credit score currently allows. The one caviat is that you have to be current in your payments and have the good credit score the get the good rates.

This is the program I have been talking about. Over the next day or 2 I will be reading and learning it so I will fill you all in while I do so.

BTW- it was my understanding that you cannot have a 2nd mortgage to qualify for this program but I am not 100% sure on this.

the 105% LTV is correct for sure.

 

[spitfire]

When you are offered the lower rate does it pick up where you left off with you current mortgage (say 25 years) or put you back into a new 15-30 year mortgage? That is where I have problems with refinancing, I think you need to look at that too not just a lower rate.

You are 100% right, you need to figure those things into your options. If I had 12 years left would I refi to a 30 year? I would do everything I could not to but if I was laid off and it was the only way to keep my house I would do what I had to do.

This is also another way for the lenders to make money. If you have to extend your term they will make more money off you.

 

[spitfire]

I called them they stated that I am eligible. They said the program is too new to do anything today. They took my name down and said I'm on the list of call backs for the program. By the end of the month they should be able to help me. They say this is all new and that information for the program is being pulled together. I imagine they have a bunch of system changes to make.

Sounds like some good news to me.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Yes - I hope so.

 

[jgln]

You are 100% right, you need to figure those things into your options. If I had 12 years left would I refi to a 30 year? I would do everything I could not to but if I was laid off and it was the only way to keep my house I would do what I had to do.

This is also another way for the lenders to make money. If you have to extend your term they will make more money off you.

Right, they tell me it will save me 90k on the loan but we paid 60k in principal over the last two years. Put us back at 30 and at even 1/2 that we only break even (60 + 30 = 90), less of course the 5,400 it would cost for the paper work. Ok, sure my monthly payments will be lower but I see LOSS! Banks want all (most) of their interest up front and leave the rest of the loan for you to start paying off the house.

I have another property and in 5 years into the loan I hardly paid anything off. Could have almost brought it with the interest payments I made.

We brought both back when things were much brighter. We still have really good jobs but it is scary. I was going to figure how to pay our house off early but for now we are in low gear.

 

[Schlenkerla]

You are 100% right, you need to figure those things into your options. If I had 12 years left would I refi to a 30 year? I would do everything I could not to but if I was laid off and it was the only way to keep my house I would do what I had to do.

This is also another way for the lenders to make money. If you have to extend your term they will make more money off you.

It seems to me this is ideal if you are out of work. Who says you can't pay more once you get a job again? You need to look for a clause to make sure there is no penalty to pay-off early and that over-payments go to principal, not the next payment.

I can't imagine major lenders get away with this. I bet the poor schlep who buys a POS car at a local no-name dealer might get suckered. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[BierMuncher]

...This is also another way for the lenders to make money. If you have to extend your term they will make more money off you.

Actually this is incorrect.

When a loan is deemed at risk and the lender modifies the loan, they are required by GAAP accounting to take what is called a TDR (Troubled Debt Restructuring) charge.

This essentially says that any future losses they may have forecast for you as a potential risk must be fully recognized the day you refi or mod your loan.

Government mandated modifications are costing banks billions in additional write-downs.

Contacting your mortgage servicer is the best move in this environment. Many of the more recent changes to Freddie/Fannie to increase securitization capacity (and induce more lending) require that borrowers work with their current lender. This is designed to minimize predatory lending by fly-by-night organizations.

You need to look for a clause to make sure there is no penalty to pay-off early and that over-payments go to principal, not the next payment.

This is illegal. Prepayment penalties are a thing of the past and were one used to garner a slight rate reduction. "You sign up for a prepay penalty contract, and we'll shave 50Bps off your rate." As far as early/accelerated payments. They must be credited to principal.

 

[Schlenkerla]

You need to look for a clause to make sure there is no penalty to pay-off early and that over-payments go to principal, not the next payment.

This is illegal. Prepayment penalties are a thing of the past and were one used to garner a slight rate reduction. "You sign up for a prepay penalty contract, and we'll shave 50Bps off your rate." As far as early/accelerated payments. They must be credited to principal.

BM - Hopefully I didn't edit your comments wrong....

I was thinking that I was illegal but I didn't know for sure. I'm thinking back 20 years ago when I was in the service and this was commonplace.

PS - Yoop wants your Schlafly

 

[jgln]

Actually this is incorrect.

When a loan is deemed at risk and the lender modifies the loan, they are required by GAAP accounting to take what is called a TDR (Troubled Debt Restructuring) charge.

This essentially says that any future losses they may have forecast for you as a potential risk must be fully recognized the day you refi or mod your loan.

Government mandated modifications are costing banks billions in additional write-downs.

Contacting your mortgage servicer is the best move in this environment. Many of the more recent changes to Freddie/Fannie to increase securitization capacity (and induce more lending) require that borrowers work with their current lender. This is designed to minimize predatory lending by fly-by-night organizations.



This is illegal. Prepayment penalties are a thing of the past and were one used to garner a slight rate reduction. "You sign up for a prepay penalty contract, and we'll shave 50Bps off your rate." As far as early/accelerated payments. They must be credited to principal.

A friend of mine made double payments and paid his house off in 1/2 the time.

 

[jgln]

It seems to me this is ideal if you are out of work. Who says you can't pay more once you get a job again? You need to look for a clause to make sure there is no penalty to pay-off early and that over-payments go to principal, not the next payment.

I can't imagine major lenders get away with this. I bet the poor schlep who buys a POS car at a local no-name dealer might get suckered. Maybe I'm wrong.

Yes, any extra we put in the additional principal line.

 

[spitfire]

BM,
That makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

Actually this is incorrect.

When a loan is deemed at risk and the lender modifies the loan, they are required by GAAP accounting to take what is called a TDR (Troubled Debt Restructuring) charge.

This essentially says that any future losses they may have forecast for you as a potential risk must be fully recognized the day you refi or mod your loan.

Government mandated modifications are costing banks billions in additional write-downs.

Contacting your mortgage servicer is the best move in this environment. Many of the more recent changes to Freddie/Fannie to increase securitization capacity (and induce more lending) require that borrowers work with their current lender. This is designed to minimize predatory lending by fly-by-night organizations.



This is illegal. Prepayment penalties are a thing of the past and were one used to garner a slight rate reduction. "You sign up for a prepay penalty contract, and we'll shave 50Bps off your rate." As far as early/accelerated payments. They must be credited to principal.