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Oct. 07, 2008
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MORTGAGE PAYMENTS SLASHED: BofA deal will help Nevadans

'Immediate relief' on way for 11,000 homeowners

By JOHN G. EDWARDS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
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www.ag.state.nv.us

Some 11,000 Nevadans will keep their homes and avoid foreclosure under a tentative agreement between state officials and Bank of America Corp. announced Monday.

The agreement was reached with attorneys general around the country and leaked to the media over the weekend, but state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto on Monday released information dealing specifically with Nevada.

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    • "My office has been working with Countrywide and the larger settlement states to bring some immediate relief for Nevada homeowners," Cortez Masto said in a statement. "The proposed settlement is intended to help those eligible Nevadans stay in their homes during these pressing economic times."

    Bank of America agreed to make loan modifications that would save Nevadans up to $219 million through reduced interest payments and, for some borrowers, reduced principal, according to the attorney general's office. The agreement would reduce late fees up to $2.2 million and waive prepayment penalties up to $2.16 million.

    Some mortgage loan rates would be cut to 3.5 percent, according to the attorney general.

    The program is designed to help homeowners who obtained subprime or pay option-adjustable rate mortgages from Countrywide Financial Corp., which Bank of America acquired.

    Subprime loans are those made to borrowers with less than prime credit. Pay option-ARM mortgages allow the loan balance to increase monthly if the borrower makes a minimum payment.

    "The key is going to be the definition of eligible," said Brock Davis, president of U.S. Express Mortgage. "Many, many of these people can't be qualified based on income."

    Countrywide didn't require many of these borrowers to prove their income, Davis said, and many will not have enough income to qualify for the loan modification program.

    "This is good in the sense that some people will be helped," Davis said. The program may provide benefits if the public perceives it is alleviating the residential mortgage crisis, he added.

    "Maybe it will help if everybody believes it will," Davis said.

    The program is limited to mortgages for owner-occupied homes. It is for subprime and pay-option ARM mortgages for which the first payment was between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2007.

    Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.



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    Len wrote on October 17, 2008 10:34 AM: Scott, I can help you navigate the process of modifying your loan with Countrywide. if you did not send a budget to them it is still possibile to get a modification. This process is complex and should not be attempted by someone who has not successfully completed one before. call me at 592-9725 and I will explain it further.


    Scott wrote on October 14, 2008 08:45 PM: After reading the article on Countrywides loan modification offer I got excited and called the customer service number to inquire about it, I was refered to four different departments just to find out my loan, which is an ajustable rate mortgage and went up by $700.00 per month, did not qualify because when I took out the loan three years ago it was backed by Wells Fargo? I took the loan out with Countywide, their goodwill only applies to BOA backed loans. I don't believe they should get the goodwill card for only helping their own customers?


    Joe wrote on October 12, 2008 07:11 PM: Good luck!


    Smelly Smerky wrote on October 08, 2008 12:08 PM: I am voting against Shelley Berkley. She didn't do anything for me so why should I vote for her. She even blamed it all on the lenders. Think again Shelley. See you in the unemployment line!!! Brother can you spare a dime.........


    Jose Martinez wrote on October 07, 2008 11:19 PM: In 2006, I was told about a special program to get me into a mortgage to buy a new home for $400,000, even though I make $10/hr as a busboy and my wife does not work. She takes care of our 3 kids. When the homes in my neighborhood dropped to $250,000, I just stopped paying and planned to find a rental!! Now, BOA will reduce my mortgage balance to $250,000 and my rate, so I plan to take my familia to the San Diego Zoo in November!! Adios.

    Sincerely,

    Jose Martinez


    A.P. Giannini wrote on October 07, 2008 08:48 PM: I will be calling B of A to get my 5.875% mortgage converted to a 3.5% mortgage otherwise I will stop paying on my house.


    Gilberto Perez wrote on October 07, 2008 08:44 PM: How about that!It is better to be lucky than good! I'm about to loose my house to CITI-RESIDENTIAL. I called them today to see if I could work something with them and the answer was that they don't do that. Translation: they don't care.I lost mt job last month and have not been able to find another.Still I have to see how this illiterate fricking president giveS CITI BANK billions of dollars, money that we all have to pay. Where is the justice for all thing?


    D Jones wrote on October 07, 2008 07:35 PM: I love the fact that these morons will still have to pay for a house worth less than the original purchase price, no matter how much the principal is lowered. I bought my home 13 years ago. Yes, it's worth less now than in 2005/06, but if I sold it, I could still make a profit.

    Speaking of morons, do the speculators get this deal too? What's the definition of a homeowner to the bank? Are they requiring proof of residence?


    Citizen wrote on October 07, 2008 05:37 PM: Cut the BS folks...we are heading into a DEPRESSION! Wake up and get ready for the greatest melt down since 1929!


    David Huntington wrote on October 07, 2008 05:31 PM: In America it pays to be either rich or poor. Those in between get stuck with the bill whilst the first 2 sit on their fat arses and laugh at the working grunts.


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