Refinance candidates benefit from FHA mortgage financing

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 12, 2000

Home mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) have traditionally been used to allow first-time homebuyers with limited funds for a downpayment and closing costs to obtain their first chip in the housing game.

But American Dream Mortgage Bankers, a designated FHA direct lender, has discovered a new and innovative use for this versatile financing... helping thousands of homeowners throughout the metropolitan area convert their present mortgages with excessively high interest rates into much more affordable loans.

"We've taken part of an FHA program, which enables existing customers who demonstrate good payment performance to benefit from positive changes in interest rates, to a new level," said Brett Hochman, American Dream's president. "We've extended the program to people with less than perfect credit who have been relegated to sub-prime lenders, granting them access only to high-priced, high-interest rate loans.

We believe that if they have been paying these sub-prime loans in a timely fashion for a year, it should also entitle them to a fixed-rate, government-insured loan."

Most of these homeowners were taken in by well advertised lenders they turned to in desperation after conventional banks said "no" to their mortgage applications, according to Hochman, and thought they had no alternative to accepting the high rates that come with those TV-advertised mortgages. Even worse, the pre-existing credentials of many customers have prohibited them from refinancing with conventional lenders.

"With American Dream's Federally-insured programs, applicants can get financing almost equal to the value of their home," said Hochman. "They can also receive low-rate loans even if they have previous late payments on mortgages, installment loans and credit cards. Thus, even if you have a poor record of paying real estate taxes, have changed jobs or have no savings, you may still qualify for one of our programs."