Record 12 percent behind on mortgage or in foreclosure

[marmar]

AP, via Yahoo!:



12 pct. are behind on mortgage or in foreclosure


NEW YORK – A record 12 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure as the housing crisis spreads to borrowers with good credit. And the wave of foreclosures isn't expected to crest until the end of next year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.

The foreclosure rate on prime fixed-rate loans doubled in the last year, and now represents the largest share of new foreclosures. Nearly 6 percent of fixed-rate mortgages to borrowers with good credit were in the foreclosure process.

At the same time, almost half of all adjustable-rate loans made to borrowers with shaky credit were past due or in foreclosure.

The worst of the trouble continues to be centered in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which accounted for 46 percent of new foreclosures in the country. There were no signs of improvement.

The pain, however, is spreading throughout the country as job losses take their toll. The number of newly laid off people requesting jobless benefits fell last week, the government said Thursday, but the number of people receiving unemployment benefits was the highest on record. These borrowers are harder for lenders to help with loan modifications.

President Barack Obama's recent loan modification and refinancing plan might stem some foreclosures, but not enough to significantly alter the crisis.

"It may be too much to say that numbers will fall because of the plan. It's more correct to say that the numbers won't be as high," said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090528/ap_on_bi_ge/us_foreclosures

[teenagebambam]

1. Count me among them

And it wasn't even a risky loan. Just a lot of unexpected problems (like having to completely replace the roof TWICE in six months) followed by the market crashing and the bank yanking my line of credit.

And if I may vent for a moment - I have been trying to work with the bank (Bank of America) for TEN MONTHS. At first, they wouldn't talk to us because the payments weren't delinquent.

Once the payments WERE delinquent, we got plenty of calls from Collections, where no one had any knowledge that we had been trying to talk to someone for six months.

Now, we have a written contract for a short sale, so at least the bank can recover SOMETHING, but no one has taken the trouble to look at the offer yet, TWO MONTHS after it was written, and FIVE WEEKS after it officially expired.

Now the bank IS willing to "talk" about other options for us, but won't even run theoretical numbers for us unless we cancel ALL short sale activity - which we're not willing to do unless we have some idea of what else is available.

The only bright spot is that all the property is in my same-sex partner's name...and since our state won't allow us to be legally married, we may end up okay.

[janx]

2. Bank of America bought Countrywide, and I didn't even

know it until my mortgage payment was just about due. (My mortgage had been with Countrywide.) I called BOA and they informed me that my payment had gone up significantly due to taxes and insurance. (They were more than happy to recommend that I take a look at their homeowner's insurance plan.) I didn't like any of this and am considering refinancing with someone else.

BOA is aggressively marketing an "equity line of credit" to me. I'm in dire straits financially, but I'll be damned if I'll allow anyone to lure me into taking the little money I have left--the capital I have in my little dive. I REFUSE. :mad:

You have encouraged me to pursue the matter further. Thanks for the information.

By the way...
"The only bright spot is that all the property is in my same-sex partner's name...and since our state won't allow us to be legally married, we may end up okay."

Ironic, no?

[teenagebambam]

3. Good luck with that

Be aware that the mortgage department and the equity line department DO NOT and, apparently, CAN NOT speak to each other.....

[janx]

4. I refuse to have anything to do with any "equity line of credit"!

No way. I'd rather die. They were marketing this junk, but I won't do it.