Getting Out Of An
Adjustable Rate Mortgage
No
other loan is more responsible for the current mortgage crisis then the
adjustable rate mortgage. When the real estate market was good many
people bought homes with no money down using these loans. Now that
property values have dropped many people are left unable to refinance
and struggling to make their payments on homes that are worth less then
they owe.
Let Your
Lender Help You
The first thing you should do when you are having trouble getting out
of an adjustable rate mortgage through refinancing is to call your
lender. Many lenders are aware of the problems people are facing when
it comes to their mortgages and property values.
As long as you have been a good customer that paid on time before your
interest rate increased your lender will more then likely help you out.
They generally offer two different options to struggling borrowers that
need to get out of their adjustable mortgage.
These programs include a loan modification that will change your loan
over to a fixed rate. This is done just like a regular refinance and
you will be required to send in income documents to prove you can
actually afford the loan. The process normally takes 30-60 days to
complete.
The other option is for the lender to extend the fixed rate period of
the ARM. The normal extensions are normally six months to a year. At
the end of this period if values have not increased they may modify
your loan over to a fixed rate to avoid a foreclosure.
The most important thing to remember though is that the lender needs to
know about your potential problems sooner and not later. If you wait to
long there maybe nothing that they can do for you and foreclosure may
proceed.
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