DISQUS

Blown Mortgage: Congresswoman Staves Off Foreclosure with a Loan Modification

  • joe · 1 year ago
    Hawkeye!

    I just read this piece (Nor Cal right in my neck of the woods, of course) a few minutes ago. I like that they pushed the article close to midnight instead of putting it in primetime.

    Nice job Morgan.

    Carter
  • ann · 1 year ago
    I still believe would it not be easier to just do the loan modifications across the board and stop the bleeding..Years ago there was in existence the dreaded "assumable no qualifying loan"..you gave a certain amount of money down and the loan was yours..plain and simple..well..of course over time lenders realized that this was not a good product..so it was discontinued and as time went by and the homes changed hands and interest rates went down these loans disappeared..This same mentality should be done to loan that are just as toxic today..automatically convert them to a affordable fixed rate as the per the initial rate of the loan..hey if it was teaser then so be it..as time goes by and these homes change hands these rates will disappear..This would stem the tide of foreclosures since 99% of them are due to rate increases and the devaluing of the home(due to foreclosures and inventory)..some may see this as a bailout, but when you are the guy stuck between 2 foreclosed homes and you did the right type of loan, it hurts to see your value go down the drain...
  • rmiguel · 1 year ago
    People need to be made more aware of their options in loan modification before making that knee jerk reaction to simply walk away from their homes. In Laura Richardson's case, she had to negotiate terms otherwise face potential career consequences. Others may have walked away from the home simply b/c the equity is upside down. However, loan modification efforts today include negotiations with lenders to write down principal balances. Give borrowers a little equity back and you'll see how quickly they'll get back on track with their mortgage payments. Prior to this year, such a thing was unheard of. If more people could be made aware of lenders new willingness to forgive the difference in value, then maybe we'd see a nationwide effort of people actually fighting to stay in their homes. As a practicing broker, I'd like to see more short refi's than short sales. Right now, hardly any knows what a short refi is.