Home Front: Sacramento credit union battles foreclosures

Home Front: Sacramento credit union battles foreclosures

By Jim Wasserman - jwasserman@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, March 21, 2008
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D2

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While millions of Americans await their May "economic stimulus" checks promised by the federal government, a Sacramento-based credit union is rolling out a far more modest stimulus for some Californians.

It's a $20 million fund aimed at getting a very small number of foreclosed borrowers back into a home of their own.

"This is not just talking about the mortgage meltdown. We're trying to do something real," says Teresa Halleck, president and chief executive officer of Golden 1 Credit Union, the state's biggest with $6.7 billion in assets and 670,000 members.

Its "mortgage repair loan" fund offers 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages to Golden 1 members who lost their home to another lender within the past 18 months.

But it won't make a huge dent in the mortgage mess - Halleck estimates only about 50 to 75 borrowers will get these loans, which are for a maximum of $417,000.

Golden 1 didn't do the risky, subprime home loans that are now hobbling many lenders, Halleck said, which is why it's got some extra funds to help a limited number of Californians rejoin the ranks of homeowners.

So what does it take to get one of these loans? A job, a 20 percent down payment, debt counseling, full documentation of income and a credit score of at least 600. The house must be owner-occupied, too; this program is not for investors who lost a speculative property.

To qualify for a "mortgage repair" loan, you must meet all three criteria as a:

• Subprime borrower who got into so-called "negative amortization" loans, where the amount owed actually went up over time instead of down.

• Borrower with an adjustable-rate loan that became unaffordable when it reset to higher payments.

• Borrower whose prepayment penalties prevented refinancing.

For more information, call Golden 1 at (916) 732-2900.

Halleck acknowledges that $20 million won't go far. But she hopes it will generate "momentum" and spark other financial lenders, here and nationally, to offer similar mortgage help.

The route back to housing stability travels one household at a time.

30-year interest rate below 6%

If there is anything more volatile than the U.S. stock market these days, it has to be mortgage rates. Area mortgage brokers have taken to joking that today's rate depends on what time it is.

All this is to say that after several weeks of rising, rates fell sharply again this week to 5.87 percent for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, according to government-backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Interest rates are back below 6 percent for the first time in five weeks, returning to summer 2005 levels. Freddie Mac attributed the drop to the likelihood of more money becoming available for loans, which lowers borrowing costs. Last week, 30-year fixed loans averaged 6.13 percent.

Finance official honored

For more than 10 years. Theresa Parker has run a faceless state bureaucracy that helps people who aren't millionaires buy their first home in pricey California.

That's the California Housing Finance Agency, known to insiders by its clunky name CalHFA. The agency is an affordable housing bank, offering below-market financing through lenders to qualified households.

But enough about the agency. Parker won the 2008 National Public Service Award from two groups that rate bureaucratic excellence: the American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration.

The Sacramento-based housing chief was one of two award recipients who have "made a difference in public administration over a sustained period of time."

Parker's 33 years in public administration include stints with California's departments of finance and health and welfare.

Yuck, here's my kitchen

Hate your kitchen? You have company. Nearly six in 10 people hoping to remodel want to redo their kitchens, says a new consumer sentiment survey by Remodelingestimates.com, a Sunnyvale-based Web site.

That little nugget comes from a survey of 5,000 U.S. homeowners.

And since kitchens are usually the most expensive remodeling project in a home, the Web site adds this advice: Always budget 20 percent more than you anticipate the job will cost. No matter how carefully you plan, count on unexpected costs.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102