All Posts Tagged With: "payment"
FTC Seeks Halt To Mortgage & Foreclosure Relief Programs
The federal government is seeking to shut down more than a dozen firms which supply mortgage modification or foreclosure relief services.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the government has sought to ban more than a dozen marketers from selling mortgage relief and foreclosure relief services, in one instance seeking $11.4 million for contempt.
The release from [...]
Mortgage Loan Relief For BP Spill Victims
Homeowners impacted by the BP oil spill are getting mortgage relief from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage owners. In general terms, the loan relief offered by the two companies follows the emergency policies both have had in place following such disasters as hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Relief
In the usual case, disaster [...]
When To Tell Your Mortgage Lender To Take A Hike
If you’ve been getting strange calls from your mortgage lender demanding payment, don’t be so quick to reach for your checkbook — such calls could be nothing but efforts to get money before it’s due. Or they could be outright frauds, a form of identity theft.
Let me explain:
I have a mortgage which is set up [...]
Credit Cards Or Mortgages: Which To Pay First?
Conventional wisdom has it that folks will use their last dollar to pay their mortgage while other bills remain unpaid, but a new study says otherwise.
A new study by TransUnion, the big credit reporting agency, says there is now a new payment hierarchy where consumers pay their credit cards before their mortgages.
“The percentage of consumers [...]
The Untold Story Behind Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
The government is out with new foreclosure prevention numbers from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the headline is that “FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC LOAN MODIFICATIONS UP BY MORE THAN 50 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER, MONTHLY PAYMENTS REDUCED FOR HOMEOWNERS.”
We then learn that “Fannie Mae and Freddie [...]
FHA — Yes (Sort Of) To No Money Down
HUD has come out with new regulations which will allow borrowers to get FHA financing with no money down — but only in very limited circumstances.
On May 11th HUD said first-time buyers could use their $8,000 tax credit to fund their FHA downpayment. In effect, borrowers would get a short-term bridge loan that would [...]
Should We Bring Back Ozzie & Harriet Loans?
It was in 2005 that Bill Dallas — then president and CEO of Ownit Mortgage Solutions, at the time on one of the 15 largest subprime mortgage lenders in the country — said “underwriting guidelines developed in the 1950s don’t address the needs of today’s homebuyers and brokers. Loans that met the needs of Ozzie [...]
26Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Why Have Piggyback Mortgages Disappeared?
We usually define a “conventional” mortgage as financing with 20 percent down. Since most people don’t happen to have 20 down much less 20 percent plus closing costs, there has always been a market for mortgages that somehow require fewer dollars up front.
The way you get loans with less down is to find [...]
Taking A Call From A “Helpful” Lender — And Giving Back
Recently a mortgage lender who called to say my monthly payment is late.
“Late,” I said, “What do you mean by late? Do you mean I owe you a late penalty?”
“Well no,” said the distant voice on the phone, “you don’t owe a late fee but we have yet to receive this month’s payment.” [...]
Mega Homes Versus Real Estate Sanity
According to the National Association of Home Builders, a home built in 1950 usually had 700 to 1,200 square feet while in 2007, says the association, the typical new home averaged 2,479 square feet.
Bigger homes, of course, require more dollars to buy, finance, refinance, insure, heat, air condition, and carpet. The equation is bigger homes [...]
© Copyright 