Can you help me with our bank mortgage?

If you have an adjustable mortgage, YES. But you should not pay closing fee, title search . . . . again.

A fixed mortgage, NO

Where is the lawyer from your original closing, your lawyer not theirs ? ? ?

Contact the state banking regulator

Have you ever read your mortgage contract? It should – in accordance with your state’s lending laws (as well as any overriding federal laws) – spell out in fairly clear language all of the terms that govern both parties.

Assuming you have held the mortgage long enough to have a good payment record, and if you aren’t underwater on the collateral covered by the mortgage, you could seek to refinance through any number of secondary market lenders who would be more than happy to either assume your current mortgage or pay it off and set up a new one for you.

But you have to read the agreement to know what you’re signing for. That’s always up to you.

You can usually refi at anytime unless the mortgage is one of the crazy ones with prepayment penalties. If it’s an ajustable rate mortgage and you are going to stay in the house a while go find a reputable lender who will do a conventional loan at a fixed rate. Conventional does not include some of the crazy ripoff stuff like a balloon after 5 years or so or other bullshit like that. Rates are about as low as they can possibly be and anyone in an ARM right now needs to have their head examined.

I’d look into credit unions too. Their rates are often much better than banks.

We have a mortgage broker that we trust. We locked in a 15 year fixed at a low interest rate and we’re done.

Read your documents.

Yeah, you need to check if you have an adjustable or fixed rate. It’s possible you have a 3 or 5 year ARM too, which would mean once the 3 or 5 years is up you likely will get a big jump in your monthly payment.

Are you sure they are threatening to increase your rate, and not just trying to get you to refinance to lower your rate? If you are going to stay more than 5 years most likely and can refinance at a better fixed rate and have lower payments it’s probably worth it.

Pull out your mortgage documents and see what it says about your rate. You can call the phone number for whomever holds your note, the general number, and ask about the details if you’re confused. Or, take the papers to a bank that has a loan officer and let him see if he has a better deal for you. He will be able to help you interpret your paperwork, because he will want to sell you a new mortgage.

The president of the bank that holds our mortgage..well he used to be
the president until he was found guilty of doctoring the books and signing
letters to grant loans that were not even there so the bank has to make
up the money that was stolen by him…and it wasn’t a small amount.
Its a small town and he is an upstanding citizen or was. What did he get
as punishment since he was related to all the judges and lawyers in the
county? Right.. a slap on the hand and he was back in church the next Sunday
singing in the choir. That’s why they jacked up our interest rate from 6% to
9%...because the bank needs the money you see….

Well, interet rates are at about 3.5% for a fixed 30 and about 3.2% for a fixed 15. The interest rate on a fixed conventional cannot be changed. Just refinance, that’s all there is to it.

Definitely refinance. Do you have good credit and can show income? Then you’re all set. Check the mortgage calculator at 3.7% and you’ll see how much lower your payment will be.

I don’t see how they can raise your interest rate at whim like that. It should be tied to something. If the bank was in trouble they could always sell your note and raise capital. That happens all the time.

Sorry you have to deal with this. I’m sure it’s very stressful.