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American Indians, while still falling below many minorities, have several avenues open to them to facilitate acceptance of mortgage applications. The Federal Govt. has established these agencies in response to problems American Indians may face when applying for a traditional mortgage. American Indians can face extraordinary difficulties in obtaining a traditional mortgage due to economic depression in tribal lands and unfair lending practices.

HUD provides Native American’s with recourse to mortgages through the establishment of its Office of Native American Programs, or ONAP. ONAP offers American Indians several options in mortgage types, loan duration, interest rates and amount of down payment. HUD’s ONAP can be accessed through mail, in person or through Web access; in addition, many websites offer a rundown of the benefits of ONAP’s loans providing valuable information to American Indians interested in HUD’s mortgage loans. Some of the benefits from using HUD’s One Stop Mortgage Center are zero down payment, potential refinancing, mobile home financing and veterans programs.

A partnership between the Native American Bank, LenderLive and Greenpoint Mortgage has resulted in turnkey home mortgages for American Indians for a number of purposes like rehabilitation, refinancing and home buying. This partnership provides American Indians with great resources to help in getting a home loan. The Native American Bank is now in position to be the number one lender to American Indians and to reap the rewards of serving this growing sector of the industry.

The Fannie Mae Organization has also created mortgage programs for Native Americans. These do not have as broad a spectrum as the HUD loans and some of the terms may be somewhat less attractive but they are quality mortgage loans offered at good rates. The Fannie Mae organization is a well respected entity in the nation, providing loans and mortgage information to people nationwide.

Freddie Mac also has a specialty division to assist American Indians with attaining a home mortgage.
They provide access to HUD loans and several other programs designed to help Native Americans. This institution provides information to help Native Americans understand the options available to them and the difference between what once was and what the industry has become today.
Home loans to Native Americans consistently fall behind mortgages to whites and several other minorities. The programs listed above were designed with this in mind, to bolster the numbers of American Indian’s successful loan applications. Traditionally, American Indians have been poorly received by many institutions due to tribal autonomy, poor economy in tribal lands and other issues of concern.

One of the factors behind Native Americans’ difficulty in obtaining mortgage loans is the situation on tribal lands. Many times, the economy of these lands is depressed, leading to low paying jobs and high unemployment rates. The American Indians have begun a promising change, however. Jobless rates, though still worse than national levels, are plunging. Social reforms, land acquisition and internal tribal change are revitalizing tribal lands and thus the economy and feasibility of acquiring home loans. Many groups are beginning to recognize the potential of the Native American peoples and are actively courting their interest.

When homeowners are attempting to put together some plan to save their homes, one of the key pieces of information they need to gather is how much they owe the bank in total. Without knowing this figure, it will be impossible to refinance the house, sell for a reasonable price and not owe anything later on, or even put together a short sale with an investor.

The best way for homeowners to get a payoff figure is to request the figure specifically from the lender or its attorneys. That will give them the most updated information on how much is currently needed to satisfy the mortgage in full and stop foreclosure. Payoff statements usually have a “good through” date of up to thirty days on them, and an estimated “per diem” interest charge for every day after the payoff expires.

In addition to requesting a payoff statement from the mortgage company, there are a few other ways for owners to get a rough idea about how much the bank is asking for, but these will not be as accurate. Out of date payoff statements, monthly mortgage balance statements, and public records searches can be useful tools to provide estimates if the lender is not being responsive to requests for updated payoffs.

Out of date payoff figures can give homeowners a very good idea of how much the bank will be looking for in the future to pay off the mortgage, but even a per diem interest charge will leave out other potential future charges. Attorneys fees may increase, or the bank may add a property tax payment of several thousand dollars to the total payoff, which may drastically increase the amount needed to stop foreclosure by paying the loan in full. If the statement is not too far out of date, though, it may be a good estimate of the current due.

Many homeowners still receive a bill every month from their mortgage company that indicates the total amount due on the loan. Usually this is just a balance of the total amount of principal left to pay off and does not include late fees, interest charges on late payments, and the attorney and court costs involved in the foreclosure process. A monthly balance statement should probably never be relied on for any actual payoff numbers, but they are useful resources for bank contact numbers which can be used to get a more accurate payoff, if nothing else.

One final way to get an estimate of the total amount owed on a mortgage is to search the public records in the county in which the property is located. Usually, the history of the mortgages/deeds of trust will be available online (or the owners or any other interested party can just call the county recorder and request the information), which will tell them when the homeowners got each mortgage and how much it was originally for. Again, this will not include changes from the time the mortgage was issued, including the charges listed in the previous paragraph and any payments the homeowners made on the loan.

Searching the title will also give homeowners, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, or potential investors a good idea if there are more liens than just the first mortgage. The bank may be willing to take less on a short sale, for example, but if the owners or investors have to come up with more money to pay property taxes, and more to pay off a second mortgage, and more to pay IRS liens, and more to pay utilities liens, then there is a strong possibility they will not end up with a very good deal that will stop foreclosure. Of course, investors could negotiate down these liens as well, but that’s more time spent dealing with lenders who may not cooperate in the end.

In any event, if the bank is still able to provide payoff statements on a mortgage, that means the homeowners are still living in the house and it has not been sold at the sheriff sale yet. The best bet for anyone interested in helping foreclosure victims or buying foreclosed houses may be simply to ask the current owners to request a payoff from their mortgage company. They can give anyone they like a copy and any parties interested in working with homeowners will have the information they need to make an offer or work on paying off the loan and ending the foreclosure.

Marketing your mortgage business online is something that you definitely want to do now. If you want your business to thrive, you have to learn about online mortgage marketing. If you don’t know how to do it, then it would be for the best to avail of mortgage marketing services. It’s important to have your own website that represents your company. However, representation is not enough.

Your mortgage website has to do its purpose of marketing your company through it. The aspect that attracts people to your site is how it is designed. When your mortgage website design is effective in luring more customers, you’ll quickly generate and convert leads in no time.

For a lot of mortgage firms, the initial step in improving their online mortgage marketing is through the creation or upgrading of their website. However, many of them fail because of their website’s overall quality and lack of traffic. Thus, when the mortgage website design is incorrect, getting and converting leads won’t be as easy.

Mortgage Website Design Aspects:

1. Information Content
Current and prospective clients visit your website in order to learn what your company is all about and to know or avail of your products. When they are provided with credible and reliable information, trust is built. An important aspect of mortgage website design is making your site useful to your customers. The inclusion of tools such as calculators and educational articles will help visitors understand the options open to them and assist them in choosing your products that would benefit them.

2. Architecture
To further enhance the mortgage marketing services offered by your website, you must carefully choose the layout of your website. Part of effective mortgage website design is user-friendliness, ease of navigation, and aesthetic appeal. You not only have to provide useful tools, but you also have to make them easily accessible to the end users as well. Also, making your website a visual delight for your customers will definitely make your online mortgage marketing a success.

3. Application Forms
One of the most common mistakes committed by mortgage companies is providing customers with a long application form to fill out. Visitors usually refuse to spend a lot of time filling up forms so it would be better to provide them with something short yet have the most important details.

4. Technical Aspect
Mortgage web design also involves technical aspects like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which means enhancing the quality and volume of traffic to your site. You must optimize your page content, titles, URL, meta tags, and so on in order to raise your search engine ranking to the highest possible.

Loan modification is a major player in a lot of foreclosure cases these days. They have become popular because millions of foreclosures are happening each year and millions of homeowners who cannot afford their mortgages are asking for home loan modifications to get out of their rut. This process fine tunes the current contract, and adjusts it to the current status of the borrower in order to bring the interest rate and payment down, decrease the principal balance, transform an adjustable rate into a fixed rate, forgive delinquent payments, and even stop auctions and foreclosure actions.

In cases where people find it difficult to process their loan modification, they plan to hire “third-party” negotiators – or lenders — who will assist them in the process. The best way to find one is of course, through word of mouth. Ask your friends and your family. Remember: If a company is good, then people will talk about them. Better yet, ask people who also underwent the same kind of experience. This can prove to be valuable in case you come across a similar situation like theirs in the future.

When all of your leads grow cold, try to join mortgage and loan modification forums, then look for the alpha members. Usually, you can distinguish them by the wealth of information and knowledge that they give. When you see someone like that in a forum, focus on where they post and try adding some messages of your own. Try to strike a conversation with these members, until you have formed enough familiarity with them to ask your questions. Usually, these members will be willing to help you find the information you need as long as you are polite, friendly and sincere in asking your questions.

Should nothing come out of this, research about your state’s official website. Try to look for information regarding foreclosure, especially laws and statutes that might help you in applying for a modification in your area. Usually, these sites include other links to related sites, so check them out, too. Also, you can try to research about the best loan modification experts on the net. Usually, their websites give information and resources to help you learn more about the loan modification process. What’s more, they offer these for free, so you don’t have to spend anything.

If you still need more information, go to the website of credit counseling companies. However, be careful – there are a lot of scams involved in this industry. To be safe, inquire about them on the Better Business Bureau. They have good listings of credible companies in many areas of the state. If all else fails, try visiting the website of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. They provide a lot of information and resources about foreclosure companies and the foreclosure process.

You have a vast wealth of information about loan modifications that are available to you everywhere. Make the most of them so you can be sure that your choices will ultimately help you secure the home you’ve worked hard for all your life.

The Texas My Community Mortgage program was introduced in 2000 by Fannie Mae. This program is designed to make it easier than ever to afford a home! In many cases these loans are made with a small or no down payment. (Up to 100% LTV loans) The rules for credit history are less restrictive than what most lenders require, and the finance rate is low. There is flexibility on income source which includes counting boarder income from relatives or non-relatives. Mortgage insurance (PMI) requirements are low and that helps keep the monthly payment low. The program is also available for 2, 3, or 4 unit properties for customers that want to live in one unit and rent the others out. There is an automated underwriting that results in a fast loan decision in most cases. This is a program that says YES for many issues that other lenders won’t accept. The result is home loan approvals for many family’s that would otherwise not be able to own a home!

There are a variety of program options available including fixed loans for up to 40 years, variable options, and initial interest only. There is also an option for a 2-1 interest rate buy down to make your payments extra low the first 2 years. Condos and co-ops are eligible. For 2007 the Houston area the My Community Mortgage household income limit is $60,900. The maximum loan size is limited to $417,000.

Texas residents can find more information at my Houston My Community Mortgage website. You can also call my office at 281-537-7800.