Any ideas for lowering an old persons mortgage payment?
 

Does a military widow qualify for any special home loans?

My grandmother has herself in a mortgage at 9% (she's had it for about five years) and I'd like to get her payments down but she has several unpaid lines (CC and personal loans) from 3-4 years years ago.. Her FICOs are 520 / 578 / 589. She only gets $800/mo from social security retirement benefits and $649/mo from her pension plan and her house payment is $594!! It was a PI loan but they got her to open an "escrow account" and now apparently it's a PITI loan (Her payment use to be $384+-) ......

I don't want to do a billion inquiries and I've tried lending tree and her current lender.. She went through a long drawn out "loan modification" a couple of years ago which was a disgustingly long and ridiculous process where they ended up giving her a QUARTER point discount. That makes me sick. They get a trillion zillion dollar bailout and they can't do better than a quarter? Please. She was never in foreclosure, so apparently they can tell her to go fuck herself, I guess?

I've tried submitting a couple of apps to lending tree (which as I understand it supposedly does ONE inquiry and then passes it on to multiple lenders) and talking to Wells Fargo (her current mortgage maker) and gotten nowhere.

My grandfather was in the service for a long long time and she has already been screwed over by social security paying her a low retirement benefit.. Now the bank gets a bailout using money that should have gone to repay social security if anything and they can't slide her a little discount? My ass, it's infuriating.

It would really help me to get her payments down because sending her money when she runs out SUCKS. I don't make a-lot. Plus, she would feel A-LOT better about being able to take care of everything without help - she's a genuinely good person who would kill herself to help someone... and just about has. She is the only member of my family who hasn't taken FROM me.. so I'd really like to help her.

9% really sucks when others are paying about half that. Good luck helping her I hope someone can offer good advise.

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No idea about veteran benefits may be available. That is where google and a good lender comes handy.

Total DTI (debt to income) ratio needs to be under 35%.
Mid FICO scores should be at 620/640 or better.
During a refi current appraised value to loan amount should be 80%

Several options to consider:

Pay off the credit lines using borrowed money from family/friends, repaying the short term loan from the refinancing. Services like Rapid Rescore will get the paid off credit lines updated within days to the reporting bureaus, thus FICO scores will go up.

Someone in the family could serve as primary co-borrower,using their eligible FICO, income history and DTI to qualify for the refi.

Have someone outright buy the property from grandma. There are great first time homeowner programs that allow for 3% down + closing costs. There are grants available to cover the closing costs, either by it being treated as a short term loan, or at some point some grants actually forgive the small debt.

Hope that helped!

Try AARP (if she is a member)