Let people refinance their mortgages for a whole lot more than the house is worth, no matter who owns the loan. Loosen the money spigot even more. And tell homeowners to be patient, because it's going to take a while to refinance and modify every troubled mortgage.
Those are some of the requests that the mortgage industry makes in a letter to the Obama administration. The letter from the Mortgage Bankers Association is a response to the White House's foreclosure prevention plan, announced last week.
The Obama initiative, called the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, or HASP, seeks to help homeowners avoid foreclosure or hardship. It aims to help two groups of homeowners:
1. People who have conforming mortgages and who have never seriously fallen behind on the payments could refinance at lower rates -- even if they owe as much as the house is worth. These people would end up with new loans, with improved rates and terms, that are difficult or impossible to get under today's stricter underwiting rules.
2. For people with subprime or exotic mortgages with adjustable rates, HASP paves the way to modify loans so the monthly payments are affordable. Borrowers would keep their current loans, but with lower payments.
Questions and suggestions
The MBA says it agrees with "the majority of the conceptual underpinnings of HASP." The association has suggestions for improving it, and its members have lots of questions about how to make it work in practice. You might have some of the same suggestions and questions.
One MBA suggestion is to get rid of the 105 percent limit on the loan-to-value ratio for refinances.The Obama plan would allow borrowers to refinance with new loans up to 105 percent of the home's appraised value. Imagine someone who bought a $120,000 house a few years ago. The house has lost value, and now it's worth $100,000. Under HASP, the owner could refinance at a lower rate for $105,000, which is 105 percent of the home's value.The MBA wants to get rid of that 105 percent cap, or at least make it higher. The places with the greatest number of late payments are the places where prices have fallen farthest -- California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. "Many borrowers in these areas would be precluded from the benefits of the HASP refinance program if the (loan-to-value) ratio on their loan is over 105 percent," the MBA says in its letter to the Treasury and Housing secretaries. Next:"Non-Fannie and Freddie loans are 'where the real garbage is...'" >Bankrate.com is the Web's leading aggregator of information on financial products including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Visit Bankrate.com to get the tools and information that can help you make the best financial decisions.
