It is found out that an average homeowner in the United States has to pay $1250 more in sub-prime mortgage industry. Sub-rime mortgage are offered to high risk borrowers who may have been rejected by other lenders.
The industry has seen a considerable growth recently, with a wave of consumers getting qualified for this loan. Consumers who face difficulty with the credit market are generally availing this loan.This kind of abusive lending is generally directed to the lower income and minority borrowers. Generally the elderly homeowners with reduced incomes become the target of these sub-prime home equity lenders as they often have considerable amount of equity in their homes.
The practice is running a big risk because a loan is based on the home equity rather than on borrower’s ability to repay. These borrowers often fail to repay and the lenders acquire the borrower’s home equity and ultimately the borrower loses his home through foreclosure or by signing a deed to the lender in lieu of the foreclosure. There are some other kind of abusive practices which are illegal under various federal or state laws.
Considering the fast growing rate of predatory lending in the mortgage industry, the National Mortgage Complaint Center has decided to have an audit service for protecting homeowners from abusive lending practices. But borrowers should also be aware of such activities and drop such lenders from their list.
Borrowers should consider some preventive measures to protect themselves from predatory lenders. They should not go by the rates that lenders often advertise because these rates are much lower than the actual fees charged. The lenders advertise such low rates just to entice consumers into a variety of mortgage loans.
Borrowers should demand a written copy of the fees that they keep paying to the lender on a monthly basis. This is because lenders often provide an estimate of fees at closing and later they charge higher fees to include these charges. But keeping the proofs of such documents will help borrowers in case of any discrepancies in the mortgage process.
In the event of a rise in interest rates in the market during the time period between the application and closing, the lenders charge higher rate to borrowers.If the rate falls, the lenders ignore it and the borrowers are deprived of the advantage of the lower rate. So, the borrowers should monitor the market during this period.
The borrowers should try to keep a track of all the documents involved during the process and ask for clarifications wherever they are not sure about even the smallest detail. Going this way will minimize the problems of being cheated by the mortgage companies to some extent. The borrowers should also try to consult an Attorney or a professional known to the borrower and get the documents verified.
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