Lender accord gives stressed-out homeowners a breather real estate matters

More than 4,000 consumers have taken the NFCC's Mortgage Reality Check at its HousingHelp Now.org Web site. The survey asks consumers if they know what kind of mortgage they have, if it is adjusting, and if they're worried about not being able to refinance or pay their new mortgage amount if their payments are about to adjust.

Since the beginning of January, the survey found that 78 percent of respondents say they have trouble sleeping because they're worried about their current financial situation, the possibility of losing their home or car, or their ability to use credit. This is up 16 percent from November and December 2007.

Sixty-nine percent of consumers taking the poll said they don't believe refinancing will solve their current cash crisis, up 8 percent from the end of 2007.

Fifty-nine percent say they owe more on their home than it is worth, up 11 percent from the end of last year.

Eighty-three percent of those taking the poll fell into the most at-risk group. You can take the survey at www.housinghelpnow.org.

Contact Ilyce Glink through her Web site, www.thinkglink.com, by mail at Real Estate Matters Syndicate, P.O. Box 366, Glencoe, Ill. 60022 or calling her radio show at 800-972-8255 from 11 a.m. to noon Sundays.