Mortgage & Finance

This may be a good time to refinance to a fixed rate mortgage from an adjustable loan if you think your ARM interest rate will go up soon.  Q: We have a first mortgage which is a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) for about $200,000 and a second mortgage for about $50,000. A recent appraisal [...]

Eighty-five percent of homeowners maintained or reduced their mortgage debt in the fourth quarter of 2011, many by refinancing their mortgages, according to a report released Thursday by Freddie Mac. Earlier this week, a report issued by NPR and ProPublica accused the government-sponsored entity (GSE) of profiting off underwater homeowners by investing in funds that [...]

Problems selling a home are plaguing homeowners, but it’s not the only issue facing the housing market. If you’re a senior and you own your own home, you are more likely to be targeted for a home-related scam, according to the FBI. And with the number of reverse mortgages (also known as a home equity conversion mortgage [...]

Selling a home isn’t an option for every homeowner, especially in today’s real estate market. If you’re house rich and cash poor, you might be looking for ways to tap into your home’s equity in order to have enough money to live on. A reverse mortgage is a government-insured home loan that lets homeowners convert [...]

Many adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loan interest rates are tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and that rate has recently gone up. Q: My mortgage is adjustable, tied to the one year LIBOR. Up until the last few months, that was a good thing and my interest rate stayed very low. But lately, [...]

When a lender fails to respond to your requests to refinance an underwater mortgage, you might have to file a complaint with the OCC. Q: We purchased the home in year 2006. We only put down 5 percent and have a first mortgage at 7 percent and a second at over 8 percent. Despite our [...]

Loan modification or refinance hell continues for homeowners even when a lender invites a borrower to refinance. Q: I'm not sure where to turn with respect to what’s going on with our mortgage. I have been with my lender (a big national bank) for almost 13 years and I have been trying unsuccessfully to refinance [...]

Bank refinance offer in the mail may be your best bet if you have a low balance mortgage loan. Q: I enjoy your column each week and have a refinancing question for you. I purchased my house in 1997 and refinanced in 2003. My current loan balance is small at about $75,000. On Tuesday, I [...]

You may want to file a complaint with the OCC if your bank has wronged you, but you may also be entitled to a foreclosure review. We received yet another email from a woman who has been trying to keep her house out of foreclosure for the past 18 months. She reached out to the Office of [...]

Mortgage lenders that service home loans have their own take on the financial, mortgage and credit crisis and have their own problems also. Q: I think you should consider the cost incurred in servicing delinquent loans before declaring that lenders profit from servicing them. Most servicers of mortgage loans must remit payments to the investor [...]