Mortgages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mortgages - Essay Example According to Boleat and Coles, the common trend is that after getting a gainful employment and after completing studies, most people will always opt to buy a home which is consider a wise investment since the homeowners would soon avoid paying rent, which takes up a big chunk of a person’s total earning (18-19). It is because of this reason that mortgage products have become very popular across the world and they have enabled many people become homeowners. However, mortgage facilities present certain problems to the borrowers, which will be discussed in this present essay and even how they affect the economy of the United States. Secondly, the essay will discuss recent act of legislations or proposal by the United States’ federal government that pertains to the problems that would be highlighted. Current problems faced by mortgagors and even the mortgage industry The nature of mortgage facility is that the borrower pays a monthly premium plus interest which is flexible meaning that the rate of the interest may increase or decrease depending on the market condition. Baily stated that borrowers’ problems usually arise when the rate of interest in the mortgage market increases while their income, which they use to repay the mortgage, remains steady (68-71). This therefore, creates a scenario whereby the borrower is unable to satisfactory pay the monthly premiums and interest, which then forces the bank to enact the foreclosure agreement that would leave the borrower homeless. Such a problem derails the entire economic growth of the United States, which is still on a recovery phase, and unemployment is still an issue since according to Baily lower purchasing power by the consumers who are servicing high interest rate means low demand for goods and products (33-35). Boleat and Coles also lamented that presently borrowers have been locked with high interest rates despite the fact that the rates have significantly decreased with the improved perfo rmance of the economy after the 2008 to 2010 financial crisis. Banks are only willing to allow a customer to switch to a cheaper rate if they are additionally using other products offered by the bank. This practice violates the directive issued by the Financial Service Authority that required lenders to treat the ‘captive’ customers fairly (89-93). In regards to the banking industry, the main problem that they face is the increased regulation that was imposed on the industry especially with the new laws such as the Dodd-Frank law that requires banks to tighten their lending requirements (Boleat and Coles, 109-112). For example, while evaluating the suitability of a prospective borrower banks currently do not consider earnings that are variable such as bonuses and commissions of which in some profession they make up the biggest percentage of the total earnings of an individual. This has resulted into banks loosing potential business and at the same time denying potential borrowers the chance to have a mortgage product. Equally, the national economy also suffers because there is decrease in the demand for houses since not many people can get a mortgage product, and this generally fails to promote economic growth. New mortgage rules Christie wrote that early this year the United States’ federal government issued rules for the mortgage industry and they were simply aimed at protecting homeowners who were facing foreclosure. Among the new rules that were introduced are restrictions that prevent mortgage lenders from repossessing homes whose owners are currently seeking modification of their loans. Moreover, according to the new rules lenders cannot enact the foreclosure agreement until the borrower fails to make payments for more than 120 days. Secondly, the