Maine foreclosures above U.S. rate Lenders tighten subprime loans

BANGOR – Local banks and mortgage lenders say they are working to make sure customers receive only home loans they can afford, but Maine’s foreclosure rates were higher than the national average in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a study published earlier this month.

“A lot of our lenders that were extending credit to subprime borrowers … have become a lot stricter,” said Cindy Fogg, owner of Innovative Home Mortgage, a brokerage firm in Brewer.

The Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association found that 1.36 percent of all outstanding home loans in Maine were in foreclosure at the end of 2006. That figure was higher than the national average of 1.19 percent.

In Maine and across the country, subprime loans, those given to people with low credit scores, had a noticeably higher foreclosure rate. At the end of 2006 in Maine, 5.59 percent of subprime loans were in foreclosure and 2.73 percent of prime loans were in foreclosure.

Of Maine’s 132,716 outstanding mortgages in December, 14.4 percent were subprime and 78.9 percent were prime. The rest were Federal Housing Authority and Veteran Affairs loans.

A flat real estate market and rising adjustable interest rates, popular in the subprime market, have already caused thousands of homeowners nationwide to default on loans that they no longer can afford.

“It’s kind of like a perfect storm,” said Tony Armstrong, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Maine. “I’ve counted over 60 foreclosure actions in a period of around 80 days in the [Portland] paper. Two years ago it was just a few a month.”

At least four large subprime lenders have sought bankruptcy protection since late December. They are People’s Choice Home Loan Inc., Ownit Mortgage Solutions LLC and ResMae Mortgage Corp, all of California, and Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. of Connecticut.

Two other subprime lenders, Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. and Fremont General Corp., this month announced agreements to sell subprime loans at a steep discount to raise needed cash.

Bangor Savings Bank has not seen any change in its foreclosure rate, probably because only 4 percent of its portfolio is subprime, according to senior vice president Yellow Light Breen.

“In terms of any problems on the horizon in our mortgage portfolio, we don’t have any and don’t see any,” Breen said. “Less than one-half of 1 percent [of our customers] are behind in their payments.”

Edwin Clift, chairman and CEO of Merrill Bank, said his bank has not seen any appreciable difference in the number of foreclosures, mostly because Merrill is also highly selective in its loan approval process.

“We’re pretty well regulated in regard to the type of loan we make,” Clift said. “I haven’t seen any huge change here and I’m hoping it stays that way.”

Fogg said the foreclosure rate certainly affects her business. Her company matches customers with out-of-state lenders, and about 75 percent of her customers have less-than-perfect credit, she said.

Mortgage brokers typically do not receive information about a customer’s payment status after they have connected the customer to a lender. Any difficulties with payments are resolved between the customer and the loan company. But that shouldn’t stop brokers from warning customers about the potentially high cost of an adjustable rate mortgage, said David Quimby, president of Acadia Mortgage Co.

“We overdisclose things, if anything, telling them [the customer] rates, terms and what can change. We had a meeting this morning, and I told loan officers that if the customer is in an adjustable rate [mortgage], tell them four or five times what the adjustable rate could go to,” Quimby said Tuesday.

Even if it means turning away some of his customers, Quimby said he believes toughening the criteria for loan eligibility is a step in the right direction.