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Posted
Apr 14 2009, 11:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Madison at My Dollar Plan launched an ethical debate. She and her husband qualify on paper for a mortgage modification through the Making Homes Affordable program -- but they don't really need it.
Is it OK to take advantage of a program intended to help struggling homeowners when you can easily afford your monthly payment?
That's one of several questions about ethical personal-finance behavior that have surfaced online recently. Age-old dilemmas have been cloaked in modern terms. Here are a few that PF bloggers have addressed:
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Posted
Mar 19 2009, 10:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you're confused about whether one of the new federal Making Home Affordable programs, designed to help 9 million homeowners, can come to your rescue, you'll find easy answers at a Web site that debuted today -- MakingHomeAffordable.gov.
The site is a combination of cool tools and well-written and well-organized information, including audio and video, about how the programs work.
It includes a quick method to determine if you're eligible for Home Affordable Refinancing or Home Affordable Modification. You can find a HUD-approved mortgage counselor (who will help you for free), calculate how much your new mortgage payment would be if you qualify for loan modification, and lots more.
Trust us: It's a breeze to use.
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Posted
Mar 11 2009, 06:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Last week President Obama announced the details of his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The housing program has two key features: the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program, and the Making Home Affordable Modification Program. Both are designed to help homeowners stay in their homes, either by refinancing or restructuring their current mortgage. And the modification program also has a feature that can result in reducing your mortgage by $5,000 over five years.
Before we look at each program, it is important to note that they are implemented through banks and mortgage companies. There is no special application to fill out and submit to HUD or some other government entity.
For the refinance program, any mortgage broker or bank can tell you if you qualify and also process your refinance application through the program. For the modification program, your existing mortgage company can tell you if you qualify and process your application.
With that, let's look at each program.
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Posted
Feb 09 2009, 05:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
I recently had lunch with my friend Winston. We talked about our families, our finances, and our plans for the future. Winston mentioned that, at my prompting, he and his wife were refinancing their home. "The local credit union was able to give us a deal," he said. "We got a 15-year loan at 4.625% for just one-third of a point."
"I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't done anything about my mortgage," I said over my plate of General Tso's chicken. "I wrote that article, and meant to refinance, but then I got sidetracked. I should do this tomorrow."
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Posted
Dec 19 2008, 03:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A story at USA Today -- "Mortgage rates at 37-year low: Average 5.19% for 30 years" -- disrupted our partner blogger J.D. Roth's vacation reverie. All of a sudden, J.D., who's not an impulsive guy, is thinking about refinancing his home. He checked Bankrate.com and found a low rate of 5.085%, which would reduce J.D.'s payments to $1,111 and save him $275 a month. But wait. It could get even better, he wrote in a post at Get Rich Slowly.
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Posted
Feb 04 2008, 10:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Randall at Credit Withdrawal equates a soon-to-be-unaffordable adjustable-rate mortgage to the shark in "Jaws," and advises, "It's not going to get any easier by ignoring the problem and hoping it swims away." Randall provides some steps to take to try to keep your roof over your head, as well as sources of information about avoiding foreclosure. If you can't refinance and you have a good relationship with your lender, you can ask to renegotiate the loan or reschedule the payments, Randall says. Some people are eligible for no-interest loans to catch up on missed payments. Study your options, he adds. "With the upswing in mortgage defaults, there's more organizations than ever before that are trying to help the consumer to get through the tough times," he writes. Find a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and check out Web sites like those provided by HUD and the FHA. For Randall's complete list of online resources, click here.
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