Hope for the weary?

So last night I called our mortgage holder to talk about what options are out there if/when Hubs gets laid off. He's been waiting for the hatchet now for about a month. The stress that comes with waiting is really overwhelming. We don't take it out on each other, but I can feel that I don't breathe as easily as usual. I find I take shorter breaths. It could be pregnancy related, but I think it's also stress related. And no amount of stress is good for the baby.

Either way, I called the mortgage company. I realized that I had an excess in our escrow account. Our property taxes and homeowners insurance have already been paid. I first asked if any of that cash can be applied to a next month's mortgage payment. Anything we can get would really help. So the nice lady on the other line said that they can't do that. They will reevaluate our taxes and insurance for next year and our mortgage will adjust. Then they will mail us a check for whatever funds we have in excess in our escrow account. Yay! A check.. But not for too much, and we have to wait. They will hold our extra money hostage.

So then I asked about what we can do to protect our credit when/if Hubs gets laid off. The nice lady referred me to their loan department as that is not her expertise. I get transferred to the loan department. Another very nice lady listened as I explained my situation. Hubs is about to be laid off. We don't know how we are going to keep paying our mortgage on time if/when he does. Sales have been really really slow and we barely have the money just to keep our payments current. We have outstanding credit and have never had a late payment. I know from browsing news forums that one late mortgage payment can reduce your credit score by 100 points. I know that our credit is worth more than gold. It's nice to know we never have to hold our breath when we are waiting for an approval on something we want. Well, I informed Nice Lady #2 that I am very interested in protecting our credit. She told me that there is nothing they can do for us until we are 60 to 90 days behind. I was incredulous, "you mean to tell me that there is nothing you can do to help us figure something out until AFTER we've hurt our credit??" She agreed that it sounded ridiculous but it was true.

I guess there is nothing they can do until you actually are defaulting. Then they can send us to a loan repayment department or loss mitigation. And even after we get to those departments there is no promise they can actually help us.

So, for giggles, I decided to ask her about refinancing. I asked her if it was necessary to actually have equity in your home before you can refinance. I knew her answer would be yes, but I figured there was no harm in asking. So she confirmed, "yes, you do need equity to refinance". I said, "I live in Florida... My house is worth LESS than we paid for it two years ago". She apologized but said she hoped the next few months would be better. There is nothing they can do. We are underwater. And that is that.

So there is nothing that can be done for people with good credit who want to do the right thing. There is nothing a bank can/will do for you until you are already showing a bad payment history. It's so frustrating. I did hear of a glimmer of hope on our horizon.. so I thought. The interest rates are rumored to drop to a record low of 4.5%. That was exciting! Maybe I can refinance then?? Nope. It's only for new purchases.

I talked to my mom about this and she reassured me that when interest rates go down, house sales go up. The more that is purchased, the more there will be a demand on homes and their prices should start to climb back up. Let's hope her ray of sunshine holds some truth.

Anyway, I just wanted to gripe about our situation. If not for a pity party, then to at least show our son how tough times were when he was just a teeny fetus. This could be my little scrap book of newspaper clippings...


"TAMPA - The Tampa Bay area experienced its steepest home price slump in recent memory in January, while the number of home sales continued to drop. Sales activity in the area stands in stark contrast to national data that showed sales of existing homes rose by the largest number in two years.

"The housing market in Tampa doesn't look good at all," said Per Gunnar Berglund, senior economist for Moody's Economy.com. "This is the sharpest drop in pricing since the early 1990s."'