Released: April 10, 2007

New web sites aim to educate borrowers

Source: Christine Dugas, USA Today

At a time when many families are losing their homes to foreclosure, mortgage experts are offering new tools to help home buyers avoid making the same mistakes. One new website will let buyers search for the lowest mortgage rates without providing their names or talking to lenders. Another site has added a tool to gauge the risks of adjustable-rate mortgages. And an industry trade group is offering consumers some basic guidance for obtaining a mortgage.

Home buyers have run into trouble because of the growth of adjustable-rate subprime mortgages — high-cost loans to borrowers with impaired credit. Now, many of them are stuck with soaring payments they can’t afford. More than 2.2 million borrowers who obtained subprime loans will lose or already have lost their homes to foreclosure, according to a recent report by the Center for Responsible Lending.

Buyers need to be sure they understand the risks of the specific mortgage they’re obtaining. “We all get a little smarter, at least in the short run,” says Kathleen Keest, a senior policy counsel at the center. “But how long we retain the lessons is another matter.”

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New web sites aim to educate borrowers   (housing, mortgages, compare, shop around)