Upside Down On Mortgage, Is Foreclosure My Only Option?
by:
Anthony Dean
So who is better off in this foreclosure crisis? The homeowner that put down 20% on their home when they purchased it, the one that financed 100% or the one that is an interest only mortgage or adjustable?
The answer to these types of questions will vary from critic to critic, however; it seems that the issue of negative home equity is affecting more borrowers that opted for interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages.
For them, just as their loans reset and interest rates rose, values began to drop, leaving them with negative equity; this is where their mortgage is greater than the value of their home.
Being upside down on your mortgage is very common in today's housing market. Home equity through out America is declining at a very fast rate. In Merced, CA seventy-two percent of homeowners there have negative equity and 47 percent in Port St. Lucie, FL. Millions of Americans are facing the same problem, In fact almost two out 10 who bought their homes in the last two years are already upside down.
Home equity has steadily declined even as home prices jumped earlier this decade due to a surge in cash-out refinances, home equity loans, lines of credit and an increase in 100% or more home financing.
Another major factor that has played into negative home equity is fraudulent or inflated home appraisals. It is likely that inflated home appraisals were deliberately carried out with the support of mortgage lenders. In many cases, appraisers were related to the lender.
It is clear that lenders have an incentive to cater to higher-valued homes because profit margins are higher for higher-valued loans. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who investigated the home loan industry after several loans ran into problems. We believe the appraisals were often fraudulent because there were conflicts of interest and pressure on the appraisers.
An investigation against Washington Mutual and First American Corporation in connection with home mortgages made by Washington Mutual was launched earlier this year. The investigation concerns allegations that First American allowed Washington Mutual to control appraisal values and apply pressure to appraisers to get housing value estimates raised in order to help close loans.
Inflated home appraisals with declining values is crushing the biggest asset for most Americans. Many homeowners are walking away from mortgage loans and their homes. In situations where homeowners have 10% or more negative equity is almost impossible to orchestrate a short sale or refinance their mortgage in order to avoid foreclosure.
Mortgage rates have dropped to levels below the refinance boom shortly after September 11th, however; homeowners are finding out very quickly that the value of their home is much lower then expected when their new appraisal is complete. This rules out a mortgage refinance and is the main reason homeowners are turning to loan modification for foreclosure help.
Loan modification programs are commonly used by homeowners that truly want to keep their home and where walking away is just not an option.
New loan modification guidelines allow the negotiation of mortgage rates, terms and in some cases principal balance.
Where most government loan modification programs are failing third party loan modification companies are able to cut through the red tape and get immediate results.
About the Author:
Anthony Dean has helped many home owners with the loan modification process. See how he can help with your loss mitigation here.
www.WeSaveHomes.com
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