Posted on: 08th Dec, 2009 05:32 pm
i attempted to refinance our current home mortgage with our current lender for a lower fixed interest rate. after collecting our past tax returns and current assest information the bank refused to continue because of our income level. when i called to ask, i was told i was misinformed and that our income level was fine - it was the home value that didn't meet required levels.
the bank will not tell me what home value they assigned or how they arrived at it. i did ask if i could get an apprasial to challenge the value, but they said they will not accept an appraisal they did not order. they did not order one, that is as much as they have told me. they said it wasn't worth it for them.
we paid 20% down and have made excellerated payments on a 30 year loan. home prices have dropped in our area, but not the 30% it would take for us to have an upside down mortgage.
what can i do? do i need to find a new bank? is there a regulatory committee to report to?
thank you for youhelp!
the bank will not tell me what home value they assigned or how they arrived at it. i did ask if i could get an apprasial to challenge the value, but they said they will not accept an appraisal they did not order. they did not order one, that is as much as they have told me. they said it wasn't worth it for them.
we paid 20% down and have made excellerated payments on a 30 year loan. home prices have dropped in our area, but not the 30% it would take for us to have an upside down mortgage.
what can i do? do i need to find a new bank? is there a regulatory committee to report to?
thank you for youhelp!
Hi zephyrb,
I would suggest you to appraise your property first and check out the exact value. If you find that your property has equity in it, then you can definitely contact other lenders in order to get a refinance from them. It's not mandatory to refinance the loan with your present lender.
I would suggest you to appraise your property first and check out the exact value. If you find that your property has equity in it, then you can definitely contact other lenders in order to get a refinance from them. It's not mandatory to refinance the loan with your present lender.
apparently, you paid no fee to the lender; that's a good thing. though i don't disagree in theory with your getting an appraisal, i do disagree in practice. you can get a reasonable estimate of your home's value from a realtor who can check comparables, and your future lender could also get a "value check" from its appraiser with the hope that your shrinking equity would grow again.
how your original lender determined the value of your home without an appraisal isn't so hard to understand, but it would be nice if they'd gone that extra inch to have a professioal gie them that information later.
how your original lender determined the value of your home without an appraisal isn't so hard to understand, but it would be nice if they'd gone that extra inch to have a professioal gie them that information later.
OOPS!! an error....
read "give" where i typed "gie."
read "give" where i typed "gie."
Trying to figure out how your suggestions of an "initial" appraisal is going to tap dance around HVCC. I think you both are suggesting the owner pay for an appraisal in his name; go to a lender and pay for another appraisal ordered under HVCC procedures. Lot of money out the door. What if the appraisal that counts (the HVCC one) is lower than the one done as the owner as a client?
Is your existing mortgage owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?
If you do not know, call the lender and ask.
If it is not, refinancing may be difficult. If it is, you should be able to refinance even if the value of the property has dropped. There is no requirement that your existing lender participate in this program.
Maybe your lender is telling you "No" becasue they know it is not a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac opwned mortgage.
If you do not know, call the lender and ask.
If it is not, refinancing may be difficult. If it is, you should be able to refinance even if the value of the property has dropped. There is no requirement that your existing lender participate in this program.
Maybe your lender is telling you "No" becasue they know it is not a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac opwned mortgage.
Our current mortgage is Fannie Mae. I did check with a realtor to get an initial market value. The realtor came up with a figure that gave us more than 20% equity. It was less than our purchase price, but still gave us plenty of equity.
The reason that we were refinancing through our current lender was that we were trying to take advantage of a three step refinance that Wells Fargo offered without any closing costs.
The reason that we were refinancing through our current lender was that we were trying to take advantage of a three step refinance that Wells Fargo offered without any closing costs.
The mortgage is owned by Fannie Mae. That is a good first step.
Wells Fargo certainly participates in the in the special refinance program which should make your actual appraised value not that big of a concern, especially if you are 95% loan to value or less and that seems to be the case.
The 3 step refinance program may mean that Wells Fargo raises the rate a little to cover what costs they have.
Wells Fargo has an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) upon which they rely for a quick estimate of the home value. Not always a reliable value.
Unless their AVM value is so rediculously low compared to what you believe the value to be, it does not seem proper for them to say they will not do the special program without an appraisal.
Most lenders can do the refinance program with costs and it may make sense for you to check some out. You do not have PMI in the first place and you will not need PMI in the second place for these special DU Refinance Plus mortgages (that is the official name of the program).
Some lenders go to 125% of value and some to 105% of value and almost all to 95% of value.
The question is left is along the lines of what makes sense: what is the current loan balance and the current interest rate. The larger the loan and the higher the interest rate, the more it makes sense to refinance, costs or no costs.
If you are inclined to do so, provide that information, perhaps also the state in which you are located. We know you are looking to refinance, we have no idea how much benefit there is to doing so.
All that being said, it defies my logic as to why Wells Fargo is not working with you.
Wells Fargo certainly participates in the in the special refinance program which should make your actual appraised value not that big of a concern, especially if you are 95% loan to value or less and that seems to be the case.
The 3 step refinance program may mean that Wells Fargo raises the rate a little to cover what costs they have.
Wells Fargo has an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) upon which they rely for a quick estimate of the home value. Not always a reliable value.
Unless their AVM value is so rediculously low compared to what you believe the value to be, it does not seem proper for them to say they will not do the special program without an appraisal.
Most lenders can do the refinance program with costs and it may make sense for you to check some out. You do not have PMI in the first place and you will not need PMI in the second place for these special DU Refinance Plus mortgages (that is the official name of the program).
Some lenders go to 125% of value and some to 105% of value and almost all to 95% of value.
The question is left is along the lines of what makes sense: what is the current loan balance and the current interest rate. The larger the loan and the higher the interest rate, the more it makes sense to refinance, costs or no costs.
If you are inclined to do so, provide that information, perhaps also the state in which you are located. We know you are looking to refinance, we have no idea how much benefit there is to doing so.
All that being said, it defies my logic as to why Wells Fargo is not working with you.
One hole in your logic -- you don't know if there's "credit enhancement" on this mortgage. If so, it's basically "no go". DU refi or DU refi Plus would not apply.
i'm with john on this matter - why wells won't assist is baffling.
not just once, but twice - back to back. i am red-faced about this, and need to correct my gaffe. i spelled "professional" as "professioal" immediately before i misspelled "give."
yes, i need some good rest.
yes, i need some good rest.