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Loan Modification

The Truth About Mortgage.com

Mortgage news and advice (with great photos by author).
By Anonymous

Post Frequency: 2.1/day

Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 15:56:07

HomeSaver Advance? Not So Much

Posted on May 21, 2009
What?s in a name? HomeSaver Advance, a loss mitigation program offered by Fannie Mae, sounds like a pretty good deal. A struggling homeowner can get an unsecured personal loan if they fall behind on their monthly mortgage payments. While the homeowner won?t receive any cash in hand, they can use the proceeds to pay off delinquent mortgage [...

Mortgage Rates Trickle Lower

Posted on May 21, 2009
Mortgage rates might be as good as they?re going to get, as there has been little movement over the last couple months now. This week, interest rates pretty much fell across the board, though not by an extraordinary amount, according to mortgage financier Freddie Mac...

55 Percent of Americans Interested in Buying a Foreclosed Home

Posted on May 20, 2009
More than half (55 percent) of those surveyed by real estate search service Trulia indicated that they were at least somewhat likely to purchase a foreclosed home, up from 47 percent in the previous study back in November. Unfortunately, 40 percent of respondents seem to be delusional, expecting to pay at least 50 percent less for [...

Michigan Homeowners to Get More Time Before Foreclosure

Posted on May 20, 2009
The Michigan Senate yesterday unanimously approved a measure that would give struggling homeowners in the state more time to negotiate with their lenders before losing their homes to foreclosure. Under the new legislation, the lending institution that holds the mortgage will be required to send a written notice to borrowers before foreclosing on a principal residence...

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Mortgage Apps Rise on Refinance Strength

Posted on May 20, 2009
Mortgage application volume was back to its increasing ways thanks to a slight improvement in interest rates, the MBA reported today. The home loan application index increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis (2.0 percent unadjusted) for the week ending May 15, and was up 42 percent compared with the same week a year earlier...

SoCal Median Home Price Slips to Early 2002 Levels

Posted on May 19, 2009
The Southern California median sales price slipped for the first time this year after holding steady for the first three months of 2009, DataQuick reported today. The median price paid for a Southland home was $247,000, down 1.2 percent from $250,000 in March, and well below the $385,000 median seen a year earlier...

MBA Cuts 2009 Mortgage Origination Estimates

Posted on May 19, 2009
Both purchase and refinance mortgage activity may not be as strong as earlier thought in 2009, according to new commentary from the MBA. The group estimated that purchase originations will total just $742 billion this year, before picking up 25 percent in 2010; an earlier forecast pegged them at $851 billion...

New Housing Construction Hits Record Low

Posted on May 19, 2009
New construction of residential property hit a record low last month, denting belief that a housing recovery was in the works, the Commerce Department said today. Building permits, which represent new units authorized to be built, fell 3.3 percent to a record low seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000 units in April...

Nearly 70 Percent Can Afford Entry Level Homes in California

Posted on May 18, 2009
The percentage of households that could afford an entry-level home in California rose to 69 percent in the first quarter of 2009, up from 46 percent a year ago, according to CAR. The California Association of Realtors said the minimum household income needed to purchase a home valued at $213,040 in the pricey state was just [...

FHA Lending Up 169 Percent in First Half of 2009

Posted on May 18, 2009
The Federal Housing Administration saw endorsements rise a whopping 169 percent during the first half of fiscal year 2009, according to NationalMortgageNews.com. The government agency endorsed $143.9 billion in single-family loans during the six-month period, including $25...

Wells Fargo Extends Lead as Top Mortgage Lender

Posted on May 18, 2009
San Francisco-based bank Wells Fargo saw loan originations exceed $40 billion in March as it extended its gap at the top, according to figures from the Treasury?s Capital Purchase Program. Bank of America, which should be stronger given its acquisition of Countrywide, came in a distant second with $33...

Is the FHA Scrapping Homebuyer Tax Credit for Down Payment?

Posted on May 14, 2009
Earlier this week, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan mentioned that the first-time homebuyer tax credit could be used as a down payment, but that may no longer be the case. The mortgagee letter with the program details has since been removed from the HUD website; a call to the FHA confirmed this had occurred...

Making Home Affordable Preliminary Results; Program Expanded

Posted on May 14, 2009
Since the Making Home Affordable Program was launched in early March, more than one million borrowers have refinanced and 55,000 loan modification offers have been extended to qualifying borrowers. Of course, most are simply refinancing due to the low rates on offer, helped on by Treasury buying of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities, which [...

Fixed Mortgage Rates Inch Up as ARMs Improve

Posted on May 14, 2009
Fixed mortgage rates displayed little movement this week, though ARMs improved somewhat, according to mortgage financier Freddie Mac. The benchmark 30-year fixed averaged 4.86 percent for the week ending May 14, up from 4.84 percent last week, but well below the 6...

Realtors: Jumbo Mortgages Stalling Housing Recovery

Posted on May 13, 2009
The always insightful National Association of Realtors claimed today that the housing recovery is being stalled thanks to costly and more difficult to obtain jumbo loans. In their report titled, ?Impact of the Jumbo Mortgage Credit Crunch,? they note that the national share of home sales above $750,000 fell to just 2...

California Home Prices to Fall Another 36 Percent

Posted on May 13, 2009
Looks like we?ve still got some time to shop for that dream house. Home prices in some hard-hit still have a long way to fall, according to a report released today by Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency believes California home prices will fall another 36 percent from current levels over the next 12 to 18 months before [...

Foreclosure Rate Hits New Record High

Posted on May 13, 2009
One in every 374 U.S. households received some type of foreclosure filing last month, leading to the highest foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in early 2005. However, the increase in filings was less than one percent month-to-month, though up 32 percent from April 2008...

Mortgage Apps Slip for Second Straight Week on Refi Weakness

Posted on May 13, 2009
Mortgage activity slipped for the second week in a row thanks to another slow down in once-popular refinance activity, the MBA said today. The home loan application index fell 9.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis (8.1 percent unadjusted) for the week ending May 8, but was still up 28...

Homebuyer Tax Credit Can Now Be Used as Down Payment

Posted on May 12, 2009
The first-time homebuyer tax credit can now be used as a down payment, according to a mortgagee letter released by HUD today. It can be used either as secondary financing (second mortgage) or as a short-term loan, otherwise known as a bridge loan, enabling homeowners to come in with little or nothing down (it can also [...

California Foreclosure Sales Rise as New Notices Drop

Posted on May 12, 2009
Notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, slid 18.2 percent in April from the record high set a month earlier, according to Foreclosure Radar. Last month, 42,675 NODs were filed, a 1.1 percent decline from April 2008, the previous high before March set a new record for such filings...

Citi: Workouts Outnumbered Foreclosures by 10 to 1 in First Quarter

Posted on May 12, 2009
Troubled bank and mortgage lender Citibank said today that loss mitigation efforts exceeded completed foreclosures by 10-to-1 during the first quarter. Additionally, the bank said it helped more than 80,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure in the first quarter alone...

Postal Worker Steals Stamps to Pay Mortgage

Posted on May 12, 2009
Another sign of the times. A United State Postal Service worker has been accused of stealing stamps to pay his mortgage, according to CNN. An arrest warrant has been issued for Macomb, Michigan resident John Auito, who authorities say stole $20,000 worth of first-class stamps in the hopes of selling them at auction online...

Select Takeaways from the Fannie Mae Earnings Release

Posted on May 11, 2009
Mortgage financer Fannie Mae reported a first quarter net loss of $23.2 billion last week, compared with a loss of $25.2 billion in the fourth quarter and $2.2 billion a year ago. As a result, the government-sponsored entity has requested another $19 billion in capital from the Treasury to eliminate its net worth deficit; Fannie received [...

First Quarter Mortgage Fundings Jump, But Still Off From Last Year

Posted on May 11, 2009
The top mortgage lenders saw fundings rise substantially during the first quarter of the year, but many couldn?t keep pace with last year?s numbers, according to MortgageDaily.com. U.S. mortgage lenders saw production rise 73% from the fourth quarter, but compared to last year, fundings were off nine percent...

Homeowners Sue KB Home, Countrywide Over Inflated Appraisals

Posted on May 08, 2009
Seven KB Home customers in Arizona are seeking class action status for a racketeering lawsuit against the homebuilder and its exclusive mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, according to the Arizona Republic. The suit, filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges that the builder-lender duo artificially pumped up home prices since 2006 to sell more homes while [...

Bair: Loan Mod Success Dependent on Direction of Economy

Posted on May 08, 2009
FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair said the ultimate success of loan modifications depends on the direction of the economy, during remarks at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank’s annual bank structure conference. She said executed mortgage modifications were having positive results, but also warned that there?s still distress in the mortgage market (yeah, we noticed)...

FHA Bailout Gets Underway

Posted on May 08, 2009
As expected, the FHA has begun relying on government appropriations to operate, the first time in its 75-year history. Of course, the $800 million in requested funds from Congress will only go towards its reverse mortgage program, which Hud Secretary Shaun Donovan called ?very sensitive to the projected path of long term house price appreciation...

Report: Subprime Lenders that Sparked Crisis Received Bailout Money

Posted on May 07, 2009
The days of solely blaming subprime lending for the housing collapse are far behind us (I hope), but the risky, high-cost lending certainly played a hand in the mortgage crisis. The Center for Public Integrity released an interesting report documenting the actions of so-called ?mega-banks,? which supported such lending that set off a global economic meltdown...

Mortgage Rates Rise on Good News

Posted on May 07, 2009
The problem with an economic recovery is that interest rates tend to trend higher; luckily we?ve still got a ways to go before we?re anywhere near recovered (how mortgage rates move). However, certain seemingly positive economic data contributed to a rise in mortgage rates this week, according to mortgage financier Freddie Mac...

AIG Unit to Shut 150 Mortgage Branches, Cut 500 Jobs

Posted on May 06, 2009
AIG?s retail consumer lending unit American General Financial Services is reportedly shutting 150 offices nationwide and cutting 500 jobs. The company, which provides first and second mortgages, as well as home equity lines of credit, across the nation, cited market conditions and liquidity constraints for the closures...

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