Tagged: loan modifications

Staten Island Real Estate Lawyer: Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Refinance Your Loan

With today’s market the way it is with the prices of food, gas and other expenses which seem like are almost constantly rising everyone is looking for more ways to save money and lower their monthly expenses.

If you are a homeowner and have a mortgage a good way to maximize your money is to refinance your loan.
Here are just some of the reasons why refinancing may be the best option for you:

  1. You can lower your monthly mortgage payment
  2. You can consolidate your debt – some banks will allow you to consolidate your debt into one low monthly payment when you refinance.  Some times this is very beneficial because you can payoff credit cards that have been lingering over your head for years.
  3. You can keep your payments from rising – if you have an adjustable rate now is definitely time to consider refinancing with the rates as low as they are.  By locking into a mortgage that has a fixed rate you are guaranteeing that your loan will stay at a low mortgage rate no matter how high the rates go in the future.
  4. You may be able to take cash out – you can take cash out against your loan when you refinance and use the extra money to pay off high interest credit cards or make renovations to your house.
  5. You may be able to utilize government programs – there are certain programs such as the Home Affordable Refinancing Program which are designed to help those who are looking to refinance but their loan is higher than the value of their home at the time of the refinance.

If you are looking to refinance your New Jersey or New York home contact Steven T. Decker Staten Island real estate lawyer specializing in areas such as refinancing and loan modifications at 718.979.4300 ext. 37.  Steven Decker works everyday with banks such as Wells Fargo and HSBC everyday to help people with their refinances and mortgage modifications.

Benefits to mortgage modifications

Homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage are now having a chance to have their mortgage modified under the new foreclosure prevention program which went into effect on March 4, 2009.   This prevention program was created to help homeowners who are considered delinquent or an at-risk mortgage.  The lenders are encouraged to offer their current borrowers a lower interest rate.  One of the provisions under this foreclosure prevention program is to make sure the interest rates being offered to borrower who is struggling to pay their mortgage does not exceed 31% of the borrowers gross monthly income.

Since President Obama put the foreclosure prevention program into effect JP Morgan Chase has reported to have issued more than 15,000 loan modifications.  Bank of America did their part by sending out letters to over 100,000 eligible borrowers letting them know of the potential opportunity to do a mortgage modification.

If you would like to discuss having a mortgage modification done or regarding any other real estate matter you can contact Steven Decker, Staten Island real estate attorney.