Charles Essmeier asked:




The mortgage industry has long been able to adapt to changing market conditions. When interest rates rose to double-digit levels in the late 1970′s, the industry made more adjustable-rate mortgages available. When the savings rate began to drop and Americans had less to put down on homes, the industry made more flexible loan products available that did not require as large a down payment. And now, as immigrants begin to comprise a larger and larger portion of our population, the lending industry is begun to introduce loans that are tailored to an immigrant population that may not have solid credit histories or Social Security numbers.

These loans, known as ITIN loans, are offered to illegal immigrants that do not have a Social Security number. They can qualify for the loans by obtaining an Individual Taxpayer Identification number (ITIN) from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS issues these numbers to people who are required to pay taxes but are ineligible for a Social Security number. The government uses these numbers for tax purposes only. A few small banks, as well as national banks Citibank and Wells Fargo, have started to issue loans to customers who have an ITIN but not a Social Security number. Most of these loans have been issued in California, but they will probably be available in other places soon.

The process of obtaining an ITIN loan is somewhat more complicated than that of applying for a conventional mortgage. Applicants with an ITIN usually have a credit history that is less well documented. As a result, the usual background work required issuing such a loan is more complicated and more time consuming than for a conventional mortgage. In addition, fees and interest rates will tend to be higher than for other types of loans in order to compensate lenders for the additional trouble and additional risk.

While there is plenty of opposition to lending money to people who are here illegally, few would argue that a neighborhood that consists of homeowners, rather than renters, is a better neighborhood for everyone. Owners are much more likely to take care of their property and show concern for the neighborhood as a whole than are renters. Thus, any lending plan which encourages people to buy, rather than rent, is good for everyone.

Marcia

Susan V. Gregory asked:




Confused about whether you can qualify for a Wells Fargo loan modification to lower your mortgage payment?

Eugene C. Kelley asked:




Between these two headlines from April 20, 2010 I could not decide which was more important, so I figured I would use them both.

The first headline is good news for Wells Fargo shareholders who, according to their press release, stand to make forty five cents per share of common stock on 21 billion in revenue. The numbers posted reflect a giant bank which is thriving. In fact, Wells Fargo is doing so well it bought another big troubled bank last year, Wachovia, a purchase helped out by a little bit of TARP money. Things are good at old Wells Fargo.

Unfortunately, this happy prosperity is not shared with many of Wells Fargo’s customers.

The second headline, which will never make the news, is one I made up. It is about a little old lady who was in my office this week. She owns a home worth about $70,000. Five years ago, she took out a loan from Wells Fargo for over $140,000. Five years ago, appraisers for banks like Wells Fargo would say anything to make sure a loan was approved and loan brokers would do anything to get the loan to closing. She was dumb to take such a large loan, and Wells Fargo was dumber to make it.

Her household income, consisting of a small pension, social security and disability for her sick husband, is about $3,100 monthly. Her mortgage payment is $1,600.00.

She is having a hard time paying such a relatively large mortgage and called Wells Fargo to see if the loan could be modified. “Sure…” the nice lady from Wells Fargo said…”All you have to do is pay off all of your credit cards.”

This poor old lady has credit card bills totaling $20,000. She and her husband used them for many years, more so after he got sick and could no longer work. They can’t pay them anymore. Collectors are calling her all day every day. Wells Fargo’s request that the cards be paid in full is nonsensical and hardly worthy of comment, aside from the fact that these large national lenders tell their worried customers things like this every single day.

How does a lawyer advise someone in her position?

Her true situation is this. She’s old enough that if she stopped paying everybody, it would take a long time for her to lose her home. The local courts are presently flooded with foreclosures, each takes a long time to process. The credit card companies will call and write her, and maybe sue in a few years, but she is underwater in every direction, and she has no assets to satisfy any judgment. The biggest price she is paying is personal. She was very distraught, having never missed timely payment of bills her whole life. I could see that the stress of her situation will simply kill her.

That’s not what I told her though.

I told her to take some time and calm down, to ignore the collection calls, to stay as current on the mortgage as she is able, and to refer any lawsuits she might get to me. Now, I could see as I spoke to her that she was dumb to take such a large loan, and Wells Fargo was dumber to make it, but who is paying a higher price, the bank making billions or the little old lady crying in my office?

Ella

hopeful77 asked:


My mortgagecompany issued me a moratorium for 4months (postponed payments)due to hurricane Wilma. This Hurricane displaced us for a couple of months and caused an extreme Financial hardship. The mortgage company(Wells Fargo Home mortgage) has on their records that they will not report any late payments and/or there will be no negative credit reporting.However, after i sent the payments and checked my credit report they indeed reported 120 days late payments to the major credit bureaus. When i talk to the represenatives they indeed see the notes about not repoting late to the credit bureau and even waived every late charge,but are adamant about not removing the negative reporting. I was a loyal consumer and my lateness was due to “acts of Nature” beyond my control. Initially the moratorium helped our family, but in the end it has really hurt my credit worthiness. I am having difficulty securing another home loan (sold previous property)because of the negative reporting. What can I do?

EMANUEL

hopeful77 asked:


My mortgagecompany issued me a moratorium for 4months (postponed payments)due to hurricane Wilma. This Hurricane displaced us for a couple of months and caused an extreme Financial hardship. The mortgage company(Wells Fargo Home mortgage) has on their records that they will not report any late payments and/or there will be no negative credit reporting.However, after i sent the payments and checked my credit report they indeed reported 120 days late payments to the major credit bureaus. When i talk to the represenatives they indeed see the notes about not reporting late to the credit bureau and even waived every late charge,but are adamant about not removing the negative reporting. I was a loyal consumer and my lateness was due to “acts of Nature” beyond my control. Initially the moratorium helped our family, but in the end it has really hurt my credit worthiness. I am having difficulty securing another home loan (sold previous property)because of the negative reporting. What can I do?

ROBBIE