Missing Payments?

It is important to talk to your mortgage lender and tell them you're having difficulties. You may find they are open to revising your payments and/or extending the term of the loan, thereby reducing monthly repayments. Discuss your options with your lender as soon as possible. Then take action immediately. The longer you wait, hoping something will happen, the fewer options you will have. Lenders use foreclosure only as a very last resort. They make every attempt — within the confines of reasonable requirements — to develop an individualized solution that helps the borrowers get through a difficult time so they can stay in their homes. The key thing is not to stop making payments without warning - something that will really get your lender offside. If you find yourself seriously struggling to make loan repayments, do something about it sooner rather than later - definitely well before you miss a payment. The worst thing you can do is avoid the phone calls, letters and/or visits from your lender. There are many options. You can market your home as a short sale; get a mortgage modification agreement or even a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Communicate with your lender. Don’t try and ignore them because they won’t go away. And don’t lie to them. Be honest with them and they will help you work out the best solution.

Walking away from your mortgage?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are warning struggling U.S. homeowners to think twice about walking away from their mortgages. Mortgage lender Fannie Mae warns homeowners planning to walk away and stop paying mortgages that doing so will make it difficult to apply for your next home loan. Borrowers facing foreclosure will be unable to obtain a loan for up to five years through the mortgage giant, unless there is "documented extenuating circumstances” in which those borrowers would have to wait up to 3 years for a new mortgage, according to a release by Fannie Mae. Even after five years, borrowers with foreclosures in their files will be required to make at least a 10 percent down payment, and will need minimum FICO credit scores of 680. Freddie Mac, Fannie's rival, counts foreclosures as major credit blots for seven years, and a senior official said the company is now aggressively pursuing some walkaway borrowers "to preserve our deficiency rights" where permitted under state law.

Walking away from the mortgage is not your only option if you are having difficulty making mortgage payments. Talk to the Realtors or mortgage brokers for more information on avoiding foreclosure.

US Govt. To Forgive Some Mortgage Loans?

USA is planning to aid borrowers whose mortgages are greater than the value of their homes. The govt. may call on lenders to forgive part of the loans according to the Washington Post, citing unidentified government officials. The Bush administration is finalizing a plan to rescue thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure by helping them refinance into more affordable loans, the Washington Post reported in its Saturday edition. The Department of Housing and Urban Development wrote a plan to expand the Federal Housing Administration and sent it to Bush officials about a week ago, but it has not yet won an endorsement. With foreclosure signs prevalent and a Wall Street rescue reverberating, majority Democrats want the government to step in and back up to $400 billion in troubled loans. The goal is to help strapped borrowers and thaw a credit market plagued by uncertainty about the value of subprime mortgages made to people with spotty credit or low incomes. The concept is similar to elements in legislation proposed earlier this month by U.S. Representative Barney Frank. Will you qualify under this new "forgiveness plan"?

Concerns About Mortgage Payments In UK

One in five U.K. mortgage- holders are concerned about meeting their loan payments over the next 12 months, according to a survey done by Financial Services Authority. Additionally a quarter of these mortgage holders had no plans on how they would meet these costs, the FSA said as it launched a 2 mln stg advertising campaign to help consumers make informed financial decisions. Consumer confidence fell to a 13-year low in February as home prices declined and higher prices unsettled shoppers, according to a poll by GfK NOP Ltd. The UK economy and Housing market has entered a downward spiral, similar to which the US market has been experiencing, which is approximately a year ahead of the UK in terms of house prices trend. The collapse of the U.S. mortgage market triggered an increase in global borrowing costs. The world's largest banks have incurred $181 billion in writedowns for mortgage-related investments or associated losses. Mortgage approvals dropped to a nine-year low in January as banks restricted lending and the housing market weakened.

Record mortgage Mess

Almost 6% of all mortgages were delinquent nationwide in the 4th quarter and foreclosure starts were at the highest levels ever, according to a report issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association. After surging in popularity during the U.S. housing boom, the risky subprime loans now are contributing to a record number of home foreclosures across the country, as many borrowers find themselves unable to pay the exorbitantly high interest rates that are starting to kick in after a few years of paying super-low "teaser" rates. The figures are expected to increase pressure on policy makers and the mortgage industry to move faster to contain losses and help homeowners. In recent days, regulators and lawmakers have begun suggesting that the federal government might need to take a bigger role in the mortgage business. This mortgage crisis is behind a nationwide drop in home values and a crisis in confidence that is impeding all types of lending. People who did not choose to take risks are also suffering, and more and more experts now say some sort of government response is necessary to avert a deep and prolonged recession. Though defaults increased across the country, much of the rise came from a handful of large states like California and Florida. Those two states account for about 21 percent of all mortgages but 30 percent of the new foreclosures. Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Ohio also had high default rates.

U.S. Mortgage Foreclosures Hit Record High

U.S. Mortgage Foreclosures rose to an all-time high at the end of 2007 as borrowers with adjustable-rate loans walked away from properties. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a quarterly report of the mortgage market released Thursday, said that the proportion of all mortgages nationwide that fell into foreclosure shot up to a record high of 0.83 percent in the last quarter of 2007. That surpassed the previous high of 0.78 percent set in the prior quarter. More home owners than ever are losing the battle to make their monthly mortgage payments. Over 900,000 households are in the foreclosure process, up 71% from a year ago. Another 381,000 households, or 0.83% of borrowers, saw the foreclosure process started during the quarter. The number of mortgage borrowers who were over 30 days late on a payment in the last three months of 2007 is at its highest rate since 1985. Homeowners with tarnished credit who have subprime adjustable-rate loans were the hardest hit. The worsening foreclosure and late payment figures come as fears grow that the country is teetering on the edge of a recession or in one already. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the biggest U.S. mortgage finance companies, have posted their largest-ever losses as rising defaults boosted credit costs. Fannie Mae had a $3.55 billion loss in the fourth quarter, the Washington-based company said Feb. 27. Freddie Mac reported $2.45 billion fourth-quarter loss the following day.