Homeowners at Risk of Foreclosure Get Help

September 29, 9:48 AMResidential Real Estate ExaminerMichele Lerner

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Hopefully IndyMac customers are already aware of the help they are due to receive from FDIC (The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.), but I missed this story in late August: Six weeks after the FDIC took over the mortgage lender IndyMac Bank, the FDIC was set to modify many of the bank's loans in order to stave off foreclosure for borrowers.

In an earlier post I mentioned the possibility of a loan modifcation as a solution for consumers having difficulty keeping up with their mortgage payments or facing a huge increase in the monthly payments.  In August, FDIC began sending out letters to an estimated 25,000 IndyMac customers who were seriously delinquent in their loan payments. The hope is that FDIC will be able to modify the loans of these customers to make the monthly payments more affordable so they can keep up with the payments and stay in their homes. Additionally, the FDIC is trying to minimize the losses to investors in securities backed by the loans. FDIC hopes to make IndyMac more attractive to potential buyers of the bank, too.

According to a CNNMoney.com article, the FDIC is defining affordable loans as those in which the entire mortgage payment of principal, interest, taxes and insurance does not exceed 38% of the borrower's income. Some possible ways to reach this goal is to reduce the interest owed on the loan by stretching out the number of years in which to pay it back, or by deferring payment on a portion of the original principal until the home is sold or the loan refinanced.

IndyMac borrowers who have not received a letter from the FDIC should call 800/781-7399 to reach an IndyMac Federal representative. Even if this particular program doesn't work for some consumers, the FDIC will try to develop alternative options on a case-by-case basis for IndyMac customers.

Disclaimer: This column should not be taken as legal advice for your personal situation. Please consult an attorney, lender, Realtor or other real estate professional before making decisions.