Arizona banks join 'Lifeline' to aid homeowners

White House effort will give homeowners at risk of foreclosure a 30-day reprieve.

 

If you are a homeowner and you have a loan with one of the following banks:

 

Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, Washington Mutual or Wells Fargo

 

AND you meet the following criteria you may be able to get a temporary reprieve from foreclosure proceedings:

 

□          90 days or more overdue on payments

□          have not filed for bankruptcy protection

□          don't have a foreclosure date set within the next 30 days

□          haven't vacated the property

□          haven't used your loan to fund investment property or vacation homes

 

Read the article at:

http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/articles/0213biz-lifeline0213.html

Stimulus plan also sparks housing market

This article from CNNMoney.com, reports that the economic stimulus plan announced by Congress last Thursday includes provisions that specifically address the mortgage crises. The package proposes lifting the dollar amount of loans that are eligible for purchase by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to $625,000 for 12 months, up from the current $417,000, and then raiding it to $725,000 permanently.  “This will have a big, immediate impact, especially in California where sales have been down most significantly,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Yun added, “There’s a lot of pent-up demand in the market. This will boost confidence among these potential buyers, and some of the people on the fence will start buying.”

 

Read the whole article here.