Mortgage Modification Program

[muck]

Article about the modification program

 

If you qualify for this, you may want to really look into it as it'll be the single best mortgage refinance you could ever get (even though, technically, it's not a refinance).

 

From what I've been told, rates may be as low as 2% for the first 3yrs and accelerate at up to (but not more than) 1% / yr for each of the next three years after that and be permanently capped at this higher level (i.e., 5%). Also, this could possible result in extending the length of the loan to up to 40yrs (if needed) to get your payments down so that total debt payments (including mortgage, property insurance, property taxes and 2nd mortgage) are less than 31% of CURRENT income (i.e., your level of income that includes reduced time, cuts in pay, etc). It's not uncommon for people to see their mortgage payments drop by 25% or more.

 

The biggest reason for the drop in payments is due to a drop in the interest rate charged (i.e., if a higher-risk borrower is at (say) 7.5% currently, but has seen their work week get cut from 40hrs to 30hrs along with a 10% cut in their hourly rate, a drop of the rate to 2.0% for the next three years could possibly get their monthly payment cut by 40-50% simply by taking the rate from 7.5% to 2.0%).

 

While I'm not a big fan of gov't largesse, this is a real and tangible way for many Americans to see a very personal improvement in their family.

[westvirginia]

There was also a news blurb I saw that said something about the obamessiah was going to "shame" mortgage companies into lowering payments more. If they keep this stuff up the only people able to get a mortgage with less than 50% LTV will be folks with 800+ beacons and 25% debt to income ratios.