All posts tagged Obama’s Foreclosure Plan

Obama Plan Needs Help

by Justin Miller on July 8, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, General News, Loan Modification with No comments

This article backs up my comments on my last post about more helping being on the way, don’t get too excited.

 

“Even Obama acknowledges that the program is failing to stem the foreclosure tidal wave.

“Our mortgage program has actually helped to modify mortgages for a lot of our people, but it hasn’t been keeping pace with all the foreclosures that are taking place,” Obama said last month.

CNNMoney.com has heard from hundreds of troubled homeowners who’ve run into roadblocks. The complaints are often the same: a lack of responsiveness by servicers. “

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/07/news/economy/Obama_mortgage_plan/index.htm?section=money_realestate

More On Loan Modifications

by Justin Miller on June 17, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, Loan Modification with No comments

The first 2 paragraphs of this article makes me sick to my stomach but at the same time at least someone is being honest about contributing to this mess.  This is yet another article describing the difficulty of getting a loan modification.  My opinion is that if you happen to get one it is just postponing the inevitable and you are better off doing a short sale or foreclosures.

“Kellina Lawrie used to be a mortgage broker, pitching loans to borrowers who in the end couldn’t afford them. Her current job is working through the wreckage.  Ms. Lawrie is one of thousands of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. employees trying to modify mortgages for Americans who are in danger of losing their homes. “I feel badly for them, but I also have a responsibility to the bank,” says the 30-year-old Ms. Lawrie, who was forced to sell her own home and trade in her Mercedes for a Toyota when the housing market went bust.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124508720715715781.html 

Interest Rates And Obama’s Refinance

by Justin Miller on June 11, 2009 in Conventional Loans, FHA Loans, Foreclosure, General News, Interest Rates, Loan Modification with No comments

Rates have continued to increase.  This morning mortgage-backed securities are trading in positive territory.  As we already know higher interest rates could cause a problem with the recovery.  “Rising interest rates threaten to dim prospects for a housing recovery and choke off a refinance wave that was a major plank of the Obama administration’s economic-stimulus efforts.”

I do believe we are going to see rates improve over the next few weeks especially with the Fed meeting on the 23rd and 24th.  Hopefully they comment on their buying of bonds.  The article below makes a great point about how bonds are selling off as though they are risky investments.  They aren’t.  They are bonds.

Enough negative talk.  This could be great news if it really happens and there aren’t huge costs involved on the higher loan to values.  “A Treasury Department official said the administration is considering a range of tweaks to the program, including extending the program to borrowers with loan-to-value ratios as high as 125%. Freddie Mac on Friday announced changes designed to make its program easier to use.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124467701447204165.html#mod=testMod 

Are Low Interest Rates Gone?

by Justin Miller on June 1, 2009 in Conventional Loans, FHA Loans, Interest Rates with No comments

I don’t think that is the case, at least not yet,  however they are certainly higher and face some resistance.  “This surge in mortgage rates, if it continues, is ominous news all around. It’s bad for those trying to refinance an existing mortgage, those looking to buy a new home, and those looking to sell their home. It may also be bad for the stock market, and maybe even for the dollar, too. More on that later.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124381108186970343.html

The Road Blocks To Obama’s Plan

by Justin Miller on May 20, 2009 in Foreclosure, Loan Modification with No comments

The Road Blocks To Obama’s Plan

This is a great article.  I think this just about summaries:  “Loan servicers are overwhelmed by the flood of applications. Mortgage investors are angry about a congressional bill prohibiting them from suing servicers that modify loans. Foreclosures are rising as unemployment soars. ”

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/15/news/economy/Obama_mortgage/index.htm?section=money_realestate

Hope For Homeowners

by Justin Miller on May 6, 2009 in FHA Loans, Foreclosure, Guideline Changes, Loan Modification with No comments

“The Obama Administration today announced details of new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program, including an effort to achieve greater affordability for homeowners by lowering payments on their second mortgages as well as a set of measures to help underwater borrowers stay in their homes.”

http://www.hud.gov/news/2009-04-28.cfm

 

And they better do this b/c below is a scary statistic and one that could be even higher depending on who is calculating the value.  “The downturn in home prices has left nearly 30% of U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than their homes are worth, according to one new study, signaling additional challenges to the Obama administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market.”

 

However with the Hope for Homeowners (if they actually help as many as they said they were going to this time) and according to the rest of this article they may increase the loan to values on the current Obama Plan.  I don’t know how many lenders will allow this after they re-evaluate the risks involved just as Jaime Dimon, Chase’s CEO, decided with the current program and won’t allow up to 105% loan to value.  “For instance, fewer will qualify to take advantage of a key component of the Obama administration’s plan to stabilize the housing market. Under the plan, announced in February, as many as five million homeowners whose loans are owned or guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance their mortgages, but only if the mortgage loan is a maximum of 105% of the home’s value. Government officials are considering an increase in that limit. “It’s a question that we’re looking at,” said James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie.”  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124156804522089735.html 

New Home Affordable Website

by Justin Miller on March 26, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, Refinance with No comments

Below is a new site for the Home Affordable program. 

http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/

Is It Better To Walk Away From Your Home?

by Justin Miller on March 19, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, Loan Modification with 4 Comments

I wouldn’t advise anyone to just walk away from their home but the article below makes a lot of good points as to why people would think of doing it especially if the Obama Plan doesn’t help them. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/loans/article/106750/Thoughts-on-Walking-Away-From-Your-Home-Loan

Mortgage Investors Want Change To Obama’s Plan

by Justin Miller on March 15, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, Refinance with No comments

Is it that no one understands how mortgages are bundled up and sold off?  It seems that way or they just don’t care.  “Investors who hold billions of dollars of residential mortgage-backed securities are pressing the Obama administration to make changes in its housing rescue plan.

Participation by these investors will help determine the success of President Barack Obama’s $75 billion plan to reduce foreclosures and help stabilize the housing market. But many investors are critical of features of the program and have been meeting with Treasury officials in an effort to influence parts of the plan, such as how it treats second mortgages.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123682290961203725.html

Freddie Mac Reports Loss, Has Restrictions On Refinances

by Justin Miller on March 15, 2009 in Bailout, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, Refinance with No comments

The WSJ reported that Home-mortgage company Freddie Mac reported a loss of $23.9 billion for the fourth quarter and said it will need a $30.8 billion injection of capital from the U.S. Treasury.

Meanwhile, a new mortgage-refinancing program offered by Freddie as part of the Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan doesn’t allow borrowers to shop around for the lowest fees. Brad German, a spokesman for the government-backed provider of funding for mortgages, said any borrower with a Freddie-backed loan who wants to refinance under the program needs to do so through the company that services his current loan. Loan servicers, typically owned by lenders, collect monthly payments.

Fannie Mae, said borrowers with Fannie-backed loans will be able to seek refinancings under the program from more than 30,000 lenders nationwide. While Fannie is letting borrowers shop around, those deemed a higher risk are hit with fees that can total 3% or more of the loan balance. Freddie’s maximum fee on these refinancings is 0.25%.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123679936260698821.html

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