There was big news today that the federal government reached a settlement with five of the biggest mortgage lending banks in the U.S. — Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi, Chase, and GMAC. While the news sounds big, for most Americans the settlement will have little impact. First, only borrowers who have loans serviced by one of those five banks will have the possibility of feeling an impact from this settlement. Among customers of those five banks here are the impacts that could be felt over the next few years:
Borrowers who have foreclosed in the last few years — Reports are that up to 750,000 people who lost their homes will receive $2000 as part of this deal.
People who are delinquent on their mortgages — Loan modification programs with these five banks will reportedly ramp up to some degree. There are rumors that in some cases these lenders will be willing to write down principal balances by up to $20,000 but details are sketchy on this.
Underwater borrowers who don’t have Fannie/Freddie or FHA loans now — There is hope that these five lenders will come up with refinance programs for the borrowers who can’t currently take advantage of the HARP program or FHA streamline program but no concrete plans have emerged yet.
While details are hazy reports are that the five lenders have three years to implement new programs as a result of this settlement so it could be some time before any changes in programs take full effect.
The good news is that most borrowers in the U.S. have loans that are currently backed by Fannie, Freddie, FHA, or the VA. For this majority of borrowers there are already solid government-backed refinance programs up and running. Contact us in the sidebar to learn more.