If your income is low and you have direct or guaranteed Federal student loans (including Stafford, PLUS or Consolidated loans), you may be eligible for reduced payments under the Income-Based Repayment program that went into effect on July 1, 2009. The IBR program reduces your payment to 15% of your income in excess of 150% […]
According to an article in the New York Times, credit card issuers are beginning to agree to writing down credit card debt, at least for borrowers who’ve been delinquent for more than six months. (The banks are required to completely write off debt that’s over 180 days delinquent, which turns any payment they can get […]
It’s been common for residential tenants with valid leases who’ve paid all their rent on time to be evicted if their building is foreclosed on, sometimes with very short notice. The foreclosing lender wants to empty the building to make it easier to sell, but the practice can involve hardship and distress for the evicted […]
The HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) program provides refinancing for qualifying homeowners into new, government-guaranteed FHA mortgages with fixed rates and terms of 30-40 years, but has been little used due to onerous restrictions. The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, which became effective in 2009, modified H4H in the hope of making it […]
It’s been very difficult to get banks to agree to short sales (in which a home sells for less than the balance on the mortgage). This leaves a homeowner who has financial problems only three options: pay the mortgage as written; try to obtain a deferral or reduction in interest amount, perhaps using the Obama […]