Mortgage Modification Information - A Homeowner's Guide
Article Summary: Many financial institutions are unveiling mortgage loan modification programs to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure on their homes. As new information becomes available, we will update this guide. Last update: 11/11/08
If you've been watching or reading the national news lately, you've probably heard a lot about mortgage modifications plans being used to prevent home foreclosures. Spurred by the economic crisis sweeping the United States, these loan modification plans are designed to help "at-risk" homeowners struggling with high-interest mortgage payments (i.e., the kind of homeowner who could face foreclosure in the near future).
But what, exactly, is a mortgage modification plan? Who will be eligible for assistance? When do these programs start? These are some of the questions we will answer in this guide to home loan modification programs.
If you want to look back a few years to see how we reached this point of economic distress, you might want to read out explanation of the subprime mortgage crisis. The rest of this article will focus on current events, as opposed to the events leading up to them.
These home loan modifications are being offered by different lenders, and so the details of the programs will vary from one financial institution to the next. But in general, the process is supposed to work like this:
First, the lender creates a set of criteria to determine which of their customers / borrowers need (and qualify for) assistance under the mortgage modification program. Next, they will decide how they are going to modify the loans. In most cases, this includes moving their customers into loans with a lower fixed interest rate. This does two things at once. It makes the mortgage payment more affordable (because the rate is lower) and it protects the homeowner from future uncertainty (because the rate is also fixed). The goal, of course, is to keep the person in the home and avoid a foreclosure situation from developing.
We are currently building a list of lenders that are currently offering some type of mortgage loan modification plan. It's a work in progress, because new programs are being announced at the time of this blog entry.
Learn more here:
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/mortgage-modification.php
If you've been watching or reading the national news lately, you've probably heard a lot about mortgage modifications plans being used to prevent home foreclosures. Spurred by the economic crisis sweeping the United States, these loan modification plans are designed to help "at-risk" homeowners struggling with high-interest mortgage payments (i.e., the kind of homeowner who could face foreclosure in the near future).
But what, exactly, is a mortgage modification plan? Who will be eligible for assistance? When do these programs start? These are some of the questions we will answer in this guide to home loan modification programs.
Home Loan Modification is Making News (And History)
If you want to look back a few years to see how we reached this point of economic distress, you might want to read out explanation of the subprime mortgage crisis. The rest of this article will focus on current events, as opposed to the events leading up to them.
These home loan modifications are being offered by different lenders, and so the details of the programs will vary from one financial institution to the next. But in general, the process is supposed to work like this:
First, the lender creates a set of criteria to determine which of their customers / borrowers need (and qualify for) assistance under the mortgage modification program. Next, they will decide how they are going to modify the loans. In most cases, this includes moving their customers into loans with a lower fixed interest rate. This does two things at once. It makes the mortgage payment more affordable (because the rate is lower) and it protects the homeowner from future uncertainty (because the rate is also fixed). The goal, of course, is to keep the person in the home and avoid a foreclosure situation from developing.
Which Lenders Are Offering These Programs?
We are currently building a list of lenders that are currently offering some type of mortgage loan modification plan. It's a work in progress, because new programs are being announced at the time of this blog entry.
Learn more here:
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/mortgage-modification.php
Labels: Economy
posted by Brandon at
8:16 AM
