With all the media hype and government “crackdowns” surrounding the mortgage industry lately, you’d think those mortgage refinance offers that seem too good to be true would fade away.

Alas, that is not the case. I still get offers to refinance my mortgage with terms that just don’t make financial sense in today’s market. Hidden costs? Probably. Special qualifying conditions? You bet. But the problem is, many of these stipulations are not mentioned up front … if they’re mentioned at all.

I’m glad somebody else has made it a point to educate the public about mortgage refinance offers that seem too good to be true. Recently, that somebody was Carol Lloyd, a real estate writer with the San Francisco Chronicle. Carol’s recent article is entitled “Mortgage Meltdown,” and it paints a pretty good picture of the current refinance market.

Article excerpt:

A mass-fax with no company name touting a “New Refinance Program” is offering a 1 percent, 30-year fixed loan. The lender didn’t care if I had bad credit, was going through bankruptcy or foreclosure. If I took out a $500,000 loan, my monthly payments would be a mere $1,608! What exactly is going on here? I thought all the extravagant offers dried up along with the subprime loan companies.

Read the full article here

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