Need some advice please

Our home is ARM 5/1 and will end 2010. Our existing loan is $240. For obvious reasons our lender Citimortgage doesn't want to help us to refinance unless we pay the difference in full amount which we can't.Or default with our payment. We're thinking some options and would like to ask which one we can take.

1. We pay additional 20k to reduce our monthly payment after May of 2010 and wait until the home market increase and finally get a refi. And do lenders allow this kind of option?
2. Get a lawyer to help us out to get a loan modification or refinance.
3. Default our payment so they will help us out. ( i know the circumstances if we do this)
4. Be persistent in calling them and ask desperately to help us out to refi. ( does this work at all?)

Thanks so much.testtest

Since this is a mortgage related question, I'm going to see if I can get our resident Mortgage Guru (Randy Johnson) to sign in and offer some advice here. Stay tuned!testtest

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 09/03/2009

I presume that your home is worth something less than $240,000 and that is what is preventing a refi. There are a couple of avenues I would suggest.

First, if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, they will allow refinances under a special program. To see if your loan is owned by either check

http://loanlookup.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/

and

https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/

If either one owns your loan, a likely scenario, then you may be closer to success than you think.

Second, even if you can't get a re-fi, when your loan goes adjustable, with rates as low as they are now, it is likely your rate and payment will actually decline. That doesn't mean you don't want to eliminate risk by refinancing into a 30 year fixed rate loan when you can, but your loan will not become toxic.

I hope this helps.

Randy Johnsontesttest