Loan Amount

Dear Mr. Azrael: I own a townhouse as an investment property with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage at 7.25 percent. The loan-to-value ratio is 60. I have been getting frequent solicitations regarding "streamline financing" to a lower rate. The loan officer informs me that there are minimal costs involved in this type of refinancing and that the lending company will pay these costs in exchange for the business of reselling the loan on the secondary market. Could there be hidden fees that I'm not being told about?

I was going to refinance my loan on my house. The day I was going to sign the closing papers, I asked again what the loan amount and monthly payment would be. It was higher than what I was told originally, so I canceled the refinance. My appraisal fee was going to be free, but now they're saying I have to pay it since the loan was not closed. But the only reason I did not close was because the figures changed. Do I have to pay it? You may have to. Often, when you sign an application to do a loan, you agree (in the fine print)

Several Web sites have online calculators that can help a prospective homebuyer figure out the rate that can be expected and the amount of monthly mortgage payments. Here are a few: Bankrate.com www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/mortgages.asp Features mortgage and amortization calculators. Relator.com www.homefair.com/homefair/usr/qualcalcform.html Determine the loan amount you can qualify for by income, savings and rate. HSH Associates, Financial Publishers www.hsh.com/calc-howmuch.

After six months of haggling and political gamesmanship, a huge housing-relief bill is heading for final approval. Though it has hundreds of pages and dozens of separate initiatives - including revamping federal oversight of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - the centerpiece is a $300 billion "HOPE" program designed to provide refinancing lifelines to as many as 400,000 homeowners in trouble on their current loans. But what are the specifics? Who will be able to qualify for help?

A Freddie Mac survey of refinanced loans in this year's first quarter found that the median age of the original loan was 1.6 years - the lowest since the secondary mortgage seller began tracking the age of refinanced loans in 1997. In their quarterly survey, Freddie Mac's economists attributed the shrinking ages of the loans being refinanced to "robust" house-price appreciation during the past three years, and recent favorable interest rates for homeowners. The survey found that properties with mortgages backing refinanced loans appreciated in value by 11 percent at the time the loan was refinanced.

Maryland home sales rose despite Jan. chillHome sales throughout Maryland rose in January, despite the month's bad weather, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors.Pending sales -- homes placed under contract -- reached 2,122, up 3 percent compared to January 1993.Sales that settled jumped 6 percent to 2,985. The average sale price for a home in Maryland fell 4 percent, to $135,205.Mortgage firm offers rebate to customersProsperity Mortgage, mortgage subsidiary of Long & Foster Real Estate, is offering a cash rebate to any customer who doesn't receive a loan decision within 30 days of application.

I sold my home and will settle Dec. 22. My $63,000 mortgage loan has a prepayment penalty. It states that I must pay six months interest on the amount prepaid in excess of 20 percent of the original loan amount. How much money can I estimate to pay for penalty? Some residential mortgage loans include a penalty for prepayment during the first three years. These loans usually carry interest rates that are higher than average. The prepayment penalty guarantees the lender a profitable return on the loan even if it is paid off within a short time.

Your monthly home mortgage loan payment may be larger than necessary. Here's why:Most lenders require "private mortgage insurance" coverage for all high-ratio conventional loans. These include home mortgage loans for amounts of more than 80 percent of the property's market value. The insurance protects the lender's interest, not that of the home buyer-borrower.PMI coverage costs the buyer a significant chunk of money. The premium is usually charged in the form of an upfront fee and a continuing surcharge with monthly payments.

WASHINGTON -- The federal agency that helps millions of veterans obtain mortgage money is cracking down on lenders who overcharge unsuspecting applicants seeking to lower the interest rate on their existing loans.In a national policy directive sent out to all Department of Veterans Affairs offices Jan. 25, the head of the VA loan program warned that the agency "has recently seen a number of [refinance] loans in which the veteran is being charged a high number of points, and the points are included in the loan."

After six months of haggling and political gamesmanship, a huge housing-relief bill is heading for final approval. Though it has hundreds of pages and dozens of separate initiatives - including revamping federal oversight of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - the centerpiece is a $300 billion "HOPE" program designed to provide refinancing lifelines to as many as 400,000 homeowners in trouble on their current loans. But what are the specifics? Who will be able to qualify for help?

Critics call it the new redlining: Many of the country's largest mortgage lenders are imposing loan restrictions in entire counties or ZIP codes that they rank as risky or "declining." On Jan. 25, Countrywide Bank sent mortgage brokers a list that categorized hundreds of counties as "soft markets" with rankings from one to five, in ascending order of perceived risk. In areas rated in categories 4 and 5 -- roughly 100 counties in metropolitan areas nationwide -- Countrywide said it will now require down payments 5 percentage points larger from most applicants.

I sold my home and will settle Dec. 22. My $63,000 mortgage loan has a prepayment penalty. It states that I must pay six months interest on the amount prepaid in excess of 20 percent of the original loan amount. How much money can I estimate to pay for penalty? Some residential mortgage loans include a penalty for prepayment during the first three years. These loans usually carry interest rates that are higher than average. The prepayment penalty guarantees the lender a profitable return on the loan even if it is paid off within a short time.

Several Web sites have online calculators that can help a prospective homebuyer figure out the rate that can be expected and the amount of monthly mortgage payments. Here are a few: Bankrate.com www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/mortgages.asp Features mortgage and amortization calculators. Relator.com www.homefair.com/homefair/usr/qualcalcform.html Determine the loan amount you can qualify for by income, savings and rate. HSH Associates, Financial Publishers www.hsh.com/calc-howmuch.

Dear Mr. Azrael: I own a townhouse as an investment property with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage at 7.25 percent. The loan-to-value ratio is 60. I have been getting frequent solicitations regarding "streamline financing" to a lower rate. The loan officer informs me that there are minimal costs involved in this type of refinancing and that the lending company will pay these costs in exchange for the business of reselling the loan on the secondary market. Could there be hidden fees that I'm not being told about?

THE $60 million "predatory lending" settlement reached last week with a once-powerful home mortgage lender should set off alarm bells around the country. The allegations against California-based First Alliance Co. were chilling: The lender was charged with intentionally misleading thousands of its customers into believing they were signing up for low- or no-fee mortgages, while in fact some loans had as much as $25,000 in fees tucked away per $100,000 of principal. First Alliance also was accused of misleading its customers about interest rates.

A Freddie Mac survey of refinanced loans in this year's first quarter found that the median age of the original loan was 1.6 years - the lowest since the secondary mortgage seller began tracking the age of refinanced loans in 1997. In their quarterly survey, Freddie Mac's economists attributed the shrinking ages of the loans being refinanced to "robust" house-price appreciation during the past three years, and recent favorable interest rates for homeowners. The survey found that properties with mortgages backing refinanced loans appreciated in value by 11 percent at the time the loan was refinanced.

The Lafayette Square project is one of nine funded through Baltimore's Community Development Financing Corp., a non-profit organization formed to finance renovation of vacant houses and development of vacant lots in Baltimore.In the year since its founding, the CDFC has lent $4 million to create 46 units for sale and 63 rental units.Developers of the other eight projects include:* Southeast Development Inc. -- Renovation of five vacant properties in the 1800 block of East Eager Street for sale to families earning $14,000 to $24,000.

You may be paying too much for your home mortgage loan.For starters, don't fall for every promotional line touted by lenders who are vying for your business. For example, those "no points, no fees" loans could cost you thousands of extra dollars ++ over a few years.Those loans typically carry an interest rate that is from three-fourths to seven-eighths of a percent higher than a similar loan where the borrower pays the normal points and closing costs. With this higher interest rate, the lender can sell the loan to a secondary loan buyer, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, for a price that is considerably higher than he would receive for a conventional mortgage loan.

Turning back an aggressive push from out-of-state finance companies, a Senate committee killed last night a bill that would have legalized high-interest "payday lending" in Maryland. On a unanimous voice vote, the Senate Finance Committee voted to reject the bill, but also to study the issue of short-term loans after the General Assembly adjourns in April. Many committee members objected to a practice that some community activists have likened to legalized loan-sharking because of the high annual interest rates.

A year after the General Assembly acted to ban "payday lending," which provides short-term loans at high interest rates, prominent legislators are pushing to make the loans legal again. To the dismay of community activists who have battled against what they call legalized loan-sharking that is widespread in poor black communities, two leading African-American lawmakers - Sen. Clarence W. Blount, the Senate majority leader, and Del. Talmadge Branch, head of the Legislative Black Caucus - are sponsoring legislation to allow payday loans.