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To: reaper who wrote (206602)	11/25/2002 12:45:15 AM
From: Ken98	Respond to of 436258

How to reconcile these 2 data points?: <<Easy Credit and Hard Times Bring a Flood of Foreclosures [...] Sixty-eight percent of all American families own homes, the most ever and a sizeable increase from 64 percent a decade ago. But in another aftershock of the bingeing 1990's, merchants of the dream have become its morticians. More mortgages than ever are being foreclosed, and more homes repossessed. [...] All states are affected. In the three months that ended in June, the association reports, creditors across the country began foreclosing on 134,885 mortgaged homes, or about 4 in every 1,000 — the highest rate in the 30 years that the association has been monitoring mortgages. Creditors' backlogs of foreclosed homes reached 414,772, another record. Foreclosures among the 26.4 million families with sound enough credit to get conventional loans are rare but growing. Since late 1999, as the boom was slowing, the association reports, the number of foreclosed conventional loans has climbed 45 percent, to 76,526, the highest level in 11 years. They are much higher among low- and moderate-income families with so-called subprime loans — higher-interest-rate loans made to borrowers with imperfect credit. Of their 5.4 million mortgages, 150,000 were being foreclosed in June.>> nytimes.com and <<Foreclosure can often be avoided [...] Payment moratoriums: The bank can suspend your loan repayment for a set period of time, said Johnson of Wells Fargo. Payment moratoriums - also called forbearance - can last from three months to a year, experts say, depending on the borrower's situation. The missed payments can be added to the balance of the mortgage, or they may be segregated into a separate debt. In some instances, lenders will charge interest on the missed payments. However, if the loan is backed by the Federal Housing Administration, the back payments may be interest free and collected only after the first loan is repaid or the house is sold, said Laurie Maggiano, director of the asset management and disposition divisions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington. In any case, the payment hiatus can give a borrower with a temporary problem enough breathing room to resolve it or sell the home. Modification of loan terms: Lenders often will refinance the debt to a lower interest rate for borrowers who can't quite meet current payments, but could if the monthly amount were somewhat lower, Johnson said. Loans that are guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority also may be modified by stretching out the repayment term, Maggiano said, thus lowering the monthly payment. Payment plans: Borrowers who have missed a payment or two may be able to work out a repayment schedule, if the economic difficulty that put their loan in arrears is now resolved, Johnson said. For instance, Wells Fargo may divide up the amount of the missed payment and let the borrower catch up over 18 months by adding an extra amount to the monthly payment. On FHA loans, Housing and Urban Development will lend the borrower the amount needed to get current at zero-percent interest. >> concordmonitor.com Zero percent interest and no repayment terms? This is taking on a rather putrid odor...