New Web Site Helps Sort Through Loan Modification, Refinance Options
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- Peter King | August 23, 2010
Financially pressed homeowners have a new tool to help them sort through their options for reducing their mortgage payments and avoiding foreclosure.
That tool is a new consumer education web site, www.Knowyouroptions.com, launched this month by government-supported lender Fannie Mae. The site uses an interactive format to lead borrowers through a process to identify which options might work best for them and help them understand how those choices would affect them financially.
“Identifying accurate resources and finding the right answers can be a difficult challenge for borrowers facing hardship and a flurry of disparate, incomplete and sometimes fraudulent information,” said Jeff Hayward, a senior vice president with Fannnie Mae. “Know Your Options is the company's newest effort to reach distressed homeowners and is designed to bring the best information and guidance together in one place so that struggling borrowers can focus on finding solutions that work for their particular circumstances.”
Walks borrowers through choices, possibilities
The site helps homeowners find out if they might qualify for a conventional or government-backed loan modification or refinance, or if they might wish to pursue other choices such as a repayment plan or forebearance. Borrowers who determine they can no longer afford their homes are provided information on options for getting out of their mortgage short of foreclosure, including short sales, deeds-in-lieu and deed-for-lease.
The web site, which is available in both English and Spanish, features a virtual assistant who can walk borrowers through key areas of the site. Borrowers can also simply go through a series of yes/no, either/or-type questions that lead them to options that fit their situation.
Benefits, financial impacts explained
Detailed information is provided on each option, including an overview, a list of the benefits it provides, an explanation of how it works and a series of steps for taking action. Financial calculators are provided to enable borrowers to explore how the various options would work out in their particular situation.
Financial checklists, contact information and useful forms are also provided to help borrowers take the necessary steps toward pursuing a given option or further researching that choice.
“There are different answers for different situations and this site can be an important tool in the toolbox for borrowers trying to do the right thing,” Hayward said. “This initiative draws on the insights and feedback garnered through Fannie Mae's work with thousands of lender partners and housing counselors across the country, and will help connect borrowers with the servicing and counseling professionals they need to reach resolution.”
The guidance provided by the site is more detailed and specific than other homeowner-assistance web sites, including those of the government’s Making Home Affordable Program and by the Hope Now Alliance, a cooperative venture of the government, mortgage industry and housing counselors. Those sites generally enable borrowers to determine if they might be able to qualify for a government-backed loan modification or refinance, but don’t provide as much information on how to proceed in pursuing a remedy or on alternate choices such as a temporary forbearance or short sale.
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