There are still many questions regarding how the payout will reach those who need it most, and some worry that it’s already too late.

“I went to home modification twice,” James Miller, a Las Vegas resident who lost his battle with the banks, said. “And they say, ‘we’ll see what we can do about it.’ Nothing happened.”

Miller said he paid cash for his house, but was advised to take out a loan for $182,000. He couldn’t keep up with the payments, and despite trying to work with Bank of America, he says they took over his home in August of 2011.

“It was our home,” Miller said. “My wife was so aggravated, she had a stroke and died. That’s not going to bring her back, nothing will bring her back, but I’d like to get my home back.”

The government announced a $25 billion deal reached between 49 states and the nation’s five largest banks on Thursday.

Those lenders were accused by the government of a long list of abuses- among them, robo-signing. Under this deal, about 1 million homeowners under water with their mortgages will have their debt reduced by lenders or be able to refinance at lower rates.

Another 750,000 Americans who lost their homes in the last three years will get a check for about $2,000.

Unsure on whether he qualifies for help in this settlement, Miller said he intends to find out.

“I’m 80 years old, and I got nowhere else to turn,” he said.

Critics say the settlement will only help a small fraction of the millions of homeowners who are drowning under their mortgages, and it won’t move anyone back into the home they lost to foreclosure.

The state Attorney General said Nevada will receive about $1.3 billion in benefits from loan modifications and other relief.

you can watch the news report Here

Struggling homeowners with a Bank of America or Wells Fargo loan in Nevada who attend the clinic will have the chance to sit down with a HUD-approved housing counselor and a representative from Bank of America or Wells Fargo.

Those who are interested in attending must RSVP by sending an email to foreclosureprevention_reid@reid.senate.gov or by calling Sen. Reid’s office at 702-388-5020.

Homeowners must also bring the following documents with them to the clinic:

– Copies of pay stubs from the past two months;

– Copies of bank statement from the past two months;

– If self-employed, the most recent Profit and Loss Statement and a copy of the last full tax return with all schedules;

– Letter of explanation of the hardship they are currently experiencing;

– Signed copies of 2009 and 2010 tax returns.

The Financial Guidance Center is located at 2650 S. Jones Blvd.

Last week, we noted a high degree of stratification in rates as lenders responded to the bond market rally at different paces. This continues to be the case today, but perhaps to a slightly smaller extent. When we say that rate offerings are more stratified, we’re talking about various lenders offering increasingly different rates to the same type of borrowers. Among some lenders in our survey, best-execution rates are still at 4.0%, while the bulk have moved down to 3.875% and 3.75%. The important point here is to not believe everything you read about mortgage rates these days, unless the source examines multiple lenders and offers the caveat that they can only report averages while individual experiences may vary.

For instance, several lenders are priced WORSE today than Friday. It’s far more important to be working with someone you trust in a process that is more likely to hit its deadlines than to go overboard in pursuing the lowest possible quotes. In the current market, overfocus on lowest possible rates can lead to delays which can result in a higher rate than the one you were originally trying to avoid!

Many home owners have lost their homes and will not benefit from the possible $1,800 check, assuming that the settlement is for $25 billion dollars, that will show up by mail. 750,000 people would be likely to receive a check. That is not the surprising part.

The surprising part about this settlement is how it just might re-form the mortgage guidelines for good. This could make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to restructure their loans. Roughly 1 million homeowners could see the size of the mortgage become lowered.

Five major banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial – and U.S. state attorneys general could adopt the agreement within weeks, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly.

Our current President Barack Obama will address this issue in his 2012 State of the Union Address on the 24th of January.

The settlement would only apply to privately held mortgages issued between 2008 and 2011, not those held by government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Fannie and Freddie own about half of all U.S. mortgages, roughly about 31 million U.S. home loans.

As part of the deal, about 1 million homeowners could also get the principal amount of their mortgages written down by an average of $20,000. One in four homeowners with a mortgage – or roughly 11 million people – owe more than their home is worth. These so-called “underwater” borrowers have little chance at refinancing.

Democratic attorneys general are meeting Monday in Chicago to discuss the deal with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Republican attorneys general will be briefed about the deals via conference call later in the day.

Under the deal:

- $17 billion would go toward reducing the principal that struggling homeowners owe on their mortgages.

- $5 billion would be placed in a reserve account for various state and federal programs; a portion of that money would cover the $1,800 checks sent to those homeowners affected by the deceptive practices.

- About $3 billion would to help homeowners refinance at 5.25 percent.

Negotiations have been dragging on for more than a year over fraudulent foreclosure practices that drove millions of Americans from their homes during the housing crisis.

In October 2010, major banks temporarily suspended foreclosures following revelations of widespread deceptive foreclosure practices by banks. Discussions then began over a national settlement.

But some states have disagreed over what terms to offer the banks. In September, California announced it would not agree to a settlement over foreclosure abuses that state and federal officials have been working on for more than a year.

New York, Delaware, Nevada and Massachusetts, which sued five major banks earlier in December over deceptive foreclosure practices, have also argued that banks should not be protected from future civil liability. The deal will not fully release banks from future criminal lawsuits by individual states.

And both sides have also fought over the amounts of money that should be placed in the reserve account for property owners who were improperly foreclosed upon. Many of the larger points of the deal, including a $25 billion cost for the banks, have long been worked out, officials say.

Last month the Las Vegas City Council passed a Home Upkeep Ordinance to all Lenders that requires lenders to upkeep their properties on foreclosed homes in holding, or face some pretty steep penalties. So far the last 2 months in Las Vegas has brought some amazing changes to the once “Worst Housing Market ANYWHERE”.

Valley West Mortgage is very excited to tell all of our new and previous clients that the Home Affordable Refinance Program will be offering new features in the early days of March.

See the Valley West Mortgage HARP 2.0 Preview Here. Use Mozilla FireFox or Google Chrome for best viewing capabilities.

How will the HARP program change?

Some of the major changes to the HARP program include:
No underwater limits
Borrowers will now be able to refinance regardless of how far their homes have fallen in value. Previous loan-to-value limits were set at 125 percent.
Eliminating appraisals and underwriting
Most homeowners will not have to get an appraisal or have their loan underwritten, making their refinance process smoother and faster.
Modified fees
Certain risk-based fees for borrowers who refi into shorter-term loans will either be eliminated or modified.
Extended deadline
The end date to get a HARP refinance has been extended to Dec. 31, 2013.
How do I find out who holds my mortgage?

To be eligible for the HARP program, your mortgage must be held by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. To “look up” your mortgage, check Fannie Mae. If you can’t find your mortgage there, check Freddie Mac.

More Information will be coming soon on this

1. When shopping around for rates, its very important to remember your budget. If you only make $10 a month, do not get a mortgage loan that requires you to pay $11 a month. Now we know that seems a bit obvious. Our readers would be shocked to discover how many loans tried to closed using that exact scenario described. As human nature goes, people want more bang for their buck.

2. All who are interested in applying for a mortgage should be actually watching the rates. All rates for a loan have to be locked. Locked loans are done by the loan officer on behalf of the borrower. Just like stocks, it would be Nice to determine the rate movement and lock in the best deal. So let’s say you want to buy a home in the summer of 2012. You probably should of started paying attention to the rates being offered as we speak. Luckily enough, Valley West Mortgage provide real time rates on our home page.

3. The last step we are going to cover is called learning the biz/lingo. When dealing with a broker, the first person you are going to talk to is the loan officer. All loan officers will be able to help you with the previous steps mentioned if you need help. Most of the time, a loan officer will wait a certain amount of time before advising to pull the trigger on locking a loan. Before giving your consent, it is perfectly on to ask your loan officer to explain why this is the time to lock in a rate.

We hope you have learned a lot, got some sort of understanding of how to proceed when applying for a mortgage loan with a broker like Valley West Mortgage.

CNN Money reports that the average 30 year fixed mortgage fell to 3.94%. These rates compare to the record setting rates we saw in early October. At the same time, the 15 year fixed mortgage fell to 3.21%, and the Five-year adjustable rate mortgages also plumbed new depths, hitting 2.86% for the week. This does not come as a surprise to many of our sites visitors that have been keeping up with the recent postings we have featured.

Mortgages are a tough thing to wrap a mind around. It should be as easy as saying “today’s rate is this, that’s what you get.” Instead, there are scenario’s that need to be examined, requirements to be met and money to be saved. With the national average falling to 3.94%, things might get a little easier. Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, said that these rates will more than likely stick around until at least mid-2012. Valley West Mortgagewants to help our readers save money the best that they can. SO here is a tip.

Les Christie of CNN MONEY reports that “The low rates can translate into big savings for home buyers. Five years ago, a home buyer would have been lucky to land a 5% rate on a 15-year loan. On a $200,000 mortgage, that would have meant the borrower would have paid $1,582 a month. Should a borrower land a 3.2% rate on a $200,000 loan now, the monthly mortgage payment would come to $1,400 — a savings of $182 a month.” While this is true, I would like to tate a fact that could save your money money and time in the long run. Lets say that the previous situation applies to your situation. You were paying 5% on a $200,000 mortgage and are now at 3.2%. You are saving $182 a month. Your first initial thought would probably be that you now have extra money to spend on groceries, bills or gas. But here is an idea. If you took that $182 and made a separate “PRINCIPLE” payment, you could actually pay off your loan in less than 9 years. Now let’s be clear about this. You would have to write the check to Mortgage Company that you are paying and clearly state on the check, that the check is to be paid to the PRINCIPLE on your mortgage.

While it’s not a bad thing to want to pocket the money, being smart about paying off your loans and interets sure does help. See our recent posting about Mortgage Rates at their lowest, arguably to get a better understanding on how people claiming “RATES NOW” are lower then the same exact rates “THEN”.

Below is an excerpt from a letter to President Obama. This letter was sent to him by the National Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB) of which, we are a proud member.

” The Georgetown University study stated that Mortgage Brokers saved borrowers thousands of dollars when it came to their mortgage needs. And the obvious differences on using a broker for your mortgage is that Mortgage Brokers are licensed by their state and the NMLS, take continuing education, take a national and state to be able to be licensed, have a criminal background check with fingerprints, and have their redit checked. Mortgage Originators that work for these banks failed to pass some of these items, test, background checks, etc., and that really sets Mortgage Brokers apart from those depository institutions.

There are thousands of good honest Mortgage Brokers in America that have never participated in sub prime loans or have used any of the exotic products that Wall Street or the Mega Banks created. And most of these companies that did these loans were not mortgage brokers.You consistently use the term Mortgage Broker to relay information having to do with the Housing industry and that is not fair. Let me give you an example. When a drug creates a problem in the medical industry, the FDA goes and contacts the maker of the drug and deals with the company. They don’t go to Walgreens or CVS and shut them down, making them the scapegoat for selling the drug. The same is with the Mortgage business. We only sell what is out there from the banks and wholesale lenders. We have never developed or created any of these products. We do not underwrite them or approve them. Yet it seems that every time something comes out about the mortgage industry, it is a Mortgage Broker that did it.”

In short, Mortgage Brokers provide a valuable service and save their clients’ money over going to a Mortgage Bank or Depository Bank. Let’s put this in plain english. We sell the Ice Cream. Not make it.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at JOEMOBI & The amazing team at WordPress, Valley West Mortgage now has an Android & BlackBerry Application where all of our site viewers friends on Facebook and Twitter can stay up to date with what is happening with our company, Home Mortgage Loans and Get the latest Rates offered by Valley West.

Earlier this fall, the beginning of October and even the end of September, rates were on average lower then they are today. That being said, in terms of the actual interest rate that’s most likely to be quoted to an ideal-scenario borrower, it was 3.875% then and after a long time stuck at 4%, the most prevalent best-execution rate is once again 3.875%.

There are a couple things to keep in mind when thinking about a 3.875% Best-Execution rate.. 3.875% Best-Execution rates mean that this the most prevalent RATE for the best of qualified scenarios, while it considers the costs involved to obtain that rate. Those costs can vary quite a bit before a move up to 4.0% or move down to 3.75% would be justified. We’re only just entering the very outer limits of 3.875%’s range of closing costs (on average, some lenders are already close to 3.75, some are still at 4.0 or higher). The point I am trying to make here with this article on Lowest Mortgage Rates is that with all this hype and exposure of the term “LOWEST RATES POSSIBLE” in the market today, it is a good idea to step back and take a look around. It is very important to know all the details. You might have a better scenario then you imagine, leaving you with more options to help choose a company that can move down to 3.75%. It is not that the rates have not been here before, or that you have not been warned numerous times about subject similar to this one. The fact is that many first time home buyers have no idea what they are jumping into – (Not Factual).

Many first time home buyers read a Mortgage Blog, maybe even a book or watch a video and then make a few calls hoping to get some kind of valid information, possibly hearing some of the same terminology they just read about. Valley West Mortgage is dedicated to helping all of our potential home buyers find all of the information needed to make a smart decision with their future. See our past blog about Loan Officers Should Always Provide Valid Contact Information. Our staff at Valley West Mortgage can prove their Authenticity, as well as our companies, before talking number.