http://www.mortgageoutreach.org Mortgage Outreach - News and Advice on Home Loan Modification Options Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Not all distressed borrowers can save their homes. As mortgage relief triage, the Obama Administration has emphasized loan modification  and refinance , yet the effort is falling far short of the 9 million at risk homeowners that the administration set out to help. More than five million borrowers are currently behind ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/03/new-short-sale-program/ About half of the borrowers  at foreclosure risk are carrying a second mortgage. When the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program was unveiled, it took months to address the second mortgage problem. Now lenders working with first mortgages under the program must modify any second mortgages they hold on the property ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/03/second-mortgage-push/ It would be nice if there were a clear dividing line between economic contraction and expansion, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. Data remains mixed. Still it looks as if the economy is starting to heat up as the weather does. Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/03/spring-recovery/ Last week in the US, responding to lower borrowing costs, mortgage applications rose for the first time in a month. The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan fell to 4.95% from 5.04% the week before. More of the demand was driven by refinancing, a 17.2% increase compared to the ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/03/mortgage-applications-rise/ Last Monday the final provisions of Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 took effect. The Credit CARD Act was designed to prevent unfair rate increases, limit fees, increase accountability and contract transparency, while protecting younger adults from assuming debts they can’t handle. The law mandates that: Contract terms must be clearly ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/03/new-credit-card-rules/ Today the National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales dropped in January by 7.2% from December. The median sales price in the nation was $164,700, the same as a year before, but down 3.4 % from December. Wednesday the government announced that sales of new homes dropped 11% ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/02/home-sales-stall-citimortgage-forclosure-option/ Consumer confidence fell sharply in data released yesterday. The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped nearly 11 points in February to 46, down from a revised 56.5 in January. A reading of 90 or above is thought to be healthy. The monthly average of the index since it ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/02/economic-snapshot/ Between January 2010 and December 2009 permanent loan modifications granted under the Obama Home Affordable Program shot up by 75%, from 66,485 to 116,297. An additional 76,000 borrowers have been offered permanent loan mods where the paperwork still has to be signed and returned. According to the US Treasury, the program ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/02/permanent-loan-mods-soar/ Yesterday, President Obama announced that he would take $1.5 billion from the bank bail out fund and target it to save homes in the five states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, Nevada, California, Michigan, Florida and Arizona; where average home prices have dropped more than 20%. The money will ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/02/more-mortgage-help/ US home construction rose 2.8% in January compared to December on a seasonally adjusted basis according to the US Department of Commerce. It was the biggest gain in six months, exceeding expectations. Compared to last year that’s a 21% rise. December’s housing starts were also revised upward. Unfortunately, all is not ... http://www.mortgageoutreach.org/2010/02/home-construction-rises/