Interest Rates

Winter Storms Hold Mortgage Rates in Place Interest on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.96 percent this week, barely up from 4.95 percent a week ago, while 15-year rates nudged up to 4.33 percent from 4.32 percent, Freddie Mac reported.
Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said the virtually unchanged interest on fixed-rate mortgages was the result of the effects of recent snow storms on the housing market.Also for the week ending March 18:• Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 4.09 percent from 4.05 percent.• One-year ARMs fell to 4.12 percent from 4.22 percent a week ago.


Source: The Wall Street Journal (03/19/10)

Avoid loan modification scams

New Web site launched to prevent loan mod scams

The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, launched PreventLoanScams.org, a new Web site to prevent loan modification scams.
The Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network developed the Web site to provide homeowners with a single destination to report alleged scammers. Complaints filed online are added to a national complaint database and forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for review. The Network estimates that the Web site will assist approximately 50,000 homeowners affected by scams. Additionally, HUD has directed its local fair housing and housing counseling grantees to begin reporting alleged loan modification scams via the Web site.

Before you decide on using an outside source to do a loan modification for you...make sure you check out this site.