Mortgage & Finance

If you live in one of the nation’s largest cities, you might be wondering why foreclosures are getting worse in your real estate market than they are nationwide despite the encouraging headlines reporting that foreclosures are finally on the decline. The truth is that the national foreclosure picture today is a tale of two cities. [...]

Applying your mortgage escrow account overage towards your loan principal will help pay off your mortgage and lower your interest payments. Q: I have a $2,000 overage on my mortgage escrow account. Should I let the lender apply the cash to the next 12 payments equally over the next year or get a refund and [...]

Divorce and refinance issues often come hand in hand.  Protect yourself from fraud by keeping copies of your mortgage papers updated. Q: My ex-husband, while we were still married several years ago, refinanced our home without my knowledge. The home was in both of our names but he was allowed to do it as a [...]

Have you tried to refinance your mortgage and were denied? An owner-occupied loan on an upside down mortgage could be why you can't refinance your mortgage.  Q: I listen to you on Sundays after I leave the station on my way home. I have a real estate question that I hope you can answer since [...]

If you can pay off your mortgage early, but you have a very low interest rate, should you? Or should you invest your money elsewhere? Q: I tried to get on your radio show this past weekend, but I called too close to the end. I refinanced two years ago to a 3.625 percent loan. [...]

If you want to pay the mortgage on a home you don't own, giving home ownership to your family, there are several ways to do that. Q: My parents are divorced and my father would like to sign his half of the house over to my brother and me. The only problem with this is [...]

A reverse mortgage could be a good idea for a homeowner looking to refinance and pay off a second mortgage, but there are some drawbacks. Q: In your recent column in the Oregonian, you attempted to help a retiree’s attempt to refinance. You gave him many ways to contort himself in order to become a [...]

What are your mortgage options after divorce? Try signing a quitclaim deed and refinancing the mortgage so only the homeowner is responsible. Q: If my spouse said in our divorce mediation that our marital home would be her sole and separate property and that she would be solely responsible for the costs and expenses of the [...]

If you have a condo or home that is deeply underwater, you have some options including paying off your mortgage, short sale or foreclosure. Q: With all the creative geniuses in the U.S., like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Google guys, why is there not even one innovative, out-of-the-box genius to help people like [...]

If you have two mortgages, it is possible for the court to dismiss the second mortgage in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Q: My Chapter 7 bankruptcy was discharged this spring. My attorney had me reaffirm my primary mortgage prior to filing the Chapter 7. He said this would be necessary in order to ask [...]