uscitizen
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Leery Lenders Demand More From Borrowers
Friday March 21, 5:25 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just when consumers and the U.S. economy need banks to lend more freely, the mortgage industry is making it harder to borrow — even for those with good credit.
Mortgage insurers, whose backing is required for borrowers who can't afford the traditional 20 percent down payment on a home, have already flagged nearly a quarter of the nation's ZIP codes where they refuse to insure some home loans.
That encompasses a wide variety of neighborhoods: McMansions in Scottsdale, Ariz.; luxury Miami condos; 1960 ranch houses in Flint, Mich.; and early 20th century kit homes in Metuchen, N.J.
The entire states of California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Nevada — which have seen the highest foreclosure rates and the worst price declines — are blackballed on some mortgage insurers' lists.
http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=ap&src=601&news_id=ap-d8vhnvgg0&date=20080321
Friday March 21, 5:25 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just when consumers and the U.S. economy need banks to lend more freely, the mortgage industry is making it harder to borrow — even for those with good credit.
Mortgage insurers, whose backing is required for borrowers who can't afford the traditional 20 percent down payment on a home, have already flagged nearly a quarter of the nation's ZIP codes where they refuse to insure some home loans.
That encompasses a wide variety of neighborhoods: McMansions in Scottsdale, Ariz.; luxury Miami condos; 1960 ranch houses in Flint, Mich.; and early 20th century kit homes in Metuchen, N.J.
The entire states of California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Nevada — which have seen the highest foreclosure rates and the worst price declines — are blackballed on some mortgage insurers' lists.
http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=ap&src=601&news_id=ap-d8vhnvgg0&date=20080321
