Renegotiate Your Mortgage Even If You're Not Behind In Your Payments

[jeffrey]

You don’t need to be behind on your mortgage payments to ask for a better deal from your bank.

Surprised? It’s easy to see why. The government’s announcement on Tuesday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would modify terms for borrowers who are at least 90 days late with their payments makes it seem as if only the delinquent are eligible for a personal bailout.

But 90 percent or so of homeowners are still current with their payments, and for them, it has often seemed as if the banks were playing a game of chicken. Sorry, but until you blow off the payments for a few months running and wreck your credit in the process, the lender won’t even consider renegotiating the terms.

On Monday, however, Citigroup announced a pre-emptive campaign to talk to people before they fall behind on their payments. It plans to reach out to borrowers in distressed areas, including Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio, and offer new terms to those who anticipate trouble making their payments...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/bu...JQ&oref=slogin