Bush, Banks Working to Freeze Mortgage Interest Rates for Troubled Borrowers

The Bush administration is working behind the scenes with industry on a plan to extend lower, introductory interest rates on home loans before they reset at higher levels amid hints by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke of another cut in a key interest rate to keep the economy from falling into recession.

Treasury Secretary Henry C. Paulson and other top regulators met Thursday with loan servicing companies — firms that collect and distribute loan payments — and other industry executives. No formal agreement was announced, but an accord on this issue could be be revealed in the next week or two.

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Many homeowners are under the mistaken impression that if they have already refinanced their home, that is it, they can not do it again.

Wrong. Many people can, and do, refinance their homes a second time, sometimes more.

There is a definite increase in the trend of refinancing more than once among homeowners today. It only makes sense that if something saved you money once and can save you money again, you should take advantage of it; and homeowners across the nation seem to be catching on.

More and more people find themselves refinancing a second time. Some homeowners are even refinancing within a few short months of their first refinance process.

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A leading expert on debt has called for reverse mortgages to be banned, claiming they are a systemic risk to the banking system.

The call comes in the wake of last week’s release of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) report into the product, ‘All we have is this house’ which found holders of reverse mortgages struggled to budget and did not understand their obligations.

Associate professor of economics at the University of Western Sydney Steve Keen, author of Debt Watch, calls them ”the most dangerous ‘innovation’ around in finance” and says any decline in house prices will see lenders and investors bearing significant risk of possible losses.

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Legislators back Cuomo’s guidelines for insurers’ rankings 

ALBANY - Members of the state Assembly and Senate agreed Monday to push for a law requiring better disclosure by health insurers of how they rank doctors, saying they hope the effort will lead to a uniform policy nationwide.

The announcement occurred as MVP Health Care of Schenectady and its Rochester affiliate, Preferred Care, agreed to adopt a ranking model offered by the state Attorney General’s Office if they decide to rate doctors.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating health insurers that provide rankings of physicians for their customers, often without disclosing the criteria for those rakings.

Cuomo determined that in some cases insurers were ranking doctors not on the quality of care but on their ability to keep insurers’ costs down.

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Scraping up the deposit on a new home is no easy task. Here’s how to not go in over your head

When you want something badly enough, usually the proper discipline and determination can help you find a way to make it happen - whether that means draining out the last drop of laundry detergent to finish a load or fishing around the center console for the extra change needed to get through the toll. But when it comes to finding the scratch to make the down payment on your dream home, it often requires a little more ingenuity and a whole lot more homework on your part.

Most lenders require anywhere from 10 percent to as little as 3 percent down on the purchase of a new or existing home, says Carl Agard, a broker and author of “Getting the Real Out of Real Estate” (Adelphi Publishing and Media Group, 2006). “This depends on the type of loan program the buyer is getting. Credit scores are a big factor in determining the required down payment for the lender. The lower your credit score, the more the down payment can be.”

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As a final step in aligning with its parent company, EverBank, BNY Mortgage Company, has officially changed its name to EverBank Reverse Mortgage.EverBank purchased Bank of New York’s interest in BNY Mortgage in March 2007. Since then, the company has focused on expanding its reverse mortgage business.

EverBank Reverse Mortgage has also moved its national headquarters from West Paterson, to EverBank facility in New Jersey that can accommodate the anticipated growth of EverBank Reverse Mortgage.

Rob Clements, CEO and chairman of EverBank, said: “With the transition now complete, EverBank Reverse Mortgage can focus on continued growth and product innovation while providing superior service to its senior customers.”

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It’s likely that Allstate Floridian, and its affiliated Allstate companies in Florida, will appeal insurance regulators’ rejection of its rate hike. Allstate insists that without the hike - 40-plus percent on average for Allstate Floridian policyholders - the companies could run out of money if they faced claims from another major hurricane.

But even if an administrative law judge would agree with ‘’The good hands people” that an increase was warranted, state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has veto power.

Allstate would then have to take the matter to the state courts. In other words, the whole process, could take months, if not longer.

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A Milwaukee couple are ready to celebrate their first year of homeownership, after fending off lending pressures and unforeseen expenses

Keith and Vicki Newson appeared destined to become subprime lending statistics.

Three years ago, at the height of the housing and lending boom, the longtime renters and parents of three children started house hunting in earnest. They quickly found real estate and mortgage brokers intent on persuading them to take on more house and more debt than they thought they could afford.

At that time, such was the common wisdom of the housing boom. Annual house appreciation in working-class neighborhoods in the city of Milwaukee hit double digits in 2005. Anyone could get a mortgage, even without a down payment or proof of a steady income.

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The Senate voted Friday to extend for seven years a post-Sept. 11 law guaranteeing federal help for the insurance industry in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack.

The Senate measure, approved by voice vote, differs considerably from a House version passed in September, and the two chambers have until the end of the year, when the current Terrorism Risk Insurance Act expires, to work out their differences.

The program, known as TRIA, was created in 2002 after the private insurance market for developers collapsed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “Without this program, terrorism insurance will become unavailable or prohibitively expensive, construction projects would grind to a halt and Americans would lose jobs,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

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Congressmen vote to boost federal loans to help those who need to refinance sub-prime mortgages

Two congressmen from Prince George’s County said they are voting in favor of boosting federal loan programs and reforming the mortgage-lending industry to help county homeowners suffering from the housing slowdown.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote today on the ‘‘Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act,” establishing new rules licensing mortgage lenders. In addition to supporting the new bill, local U.S. Representatives Albert R. Wynn and Steny H. Hoyer both voted earlier this fall to expand the government’s Federal Housing Administration loan program to cover homeowners who need to refinance rising sub-prime mortgages.

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