Buying a home and taking on a mortgage is a big financial decision, one most of us will make only a few times in our lives. No matter where you are on your journey, whether you’re currently looking for a home, shopping for a mortgage, or just curious for your future, we have tools and information to help you confidently make good decisions to reach your goals.
This week, we’re launching our latest effort to help you navigate the market, ask the questions, and take the steps that will help you to find the mortgage that’s right for you. We’re calling it Owning a Home.
We’re committed to making it easier for consumers to shop for and get a good mortgage. Here are five ways that Owning a Home can help you find the best mortgage for your situation:
1. Owning a Home helps you know what to expect.
Shopping for a mortgage isn’t like shopping for a new toaster. You can’t easily go online and double check to make sure you’re getting the best price (or, in the case of mortgages, the best interest rate). Owning a Home lets you see real data on what current interest rates look like for your situation.
With a simple visualization, you can tell what kind of rates real lenders are offering to borrowers in your situation, and quickly understand what a good deal looks like for you. Armed with this information, you can plan how much to spend on a new home and know what to expect when you talk to lenders.
2. Owning a Home helps you understand your loan options.
It might seem like real estate agents, bankers, and mortgage brokers speak a foreign language. They use words like “ARM” and “principal” as if you should already know them, and it can be frustrating. Owning a Home demystifies this jargon, so you can have conversations with your lender confidently. We help you understand how the choices you make about your loan will impact your costs and risks.
3. Owning a Home lets you imagine new options.
You can explore different options to see which might be the best fit for you. You can see the factors lenders consider when determining your interest rate, like down payment and credit score. Because the tool is interactive, you can start to see how even small changes affect your interest rate. Considering saving up for a higher down payment before buying? See how different down payment amounts affect your interest rate. Credit score lower than you like? See how your rate could be lower with a higher credit score, and consider if it’s worth it for you to improve your credit before buying a home.
4. Owning a Home is there for you from start to closing.
Use these tools from the very start of your home buying process through to closing. Closing is the time when you dot the i’s and cross the t’s— it’s when you legally commit to your mortgage loan. To help you make sure you don’t miss anything important, we’ve created a detailed checklist and an easy-to-read guide to the forms you’ll be signing during closing.
5. Owning a Home helps you make smart choices to serve your own goals.
All of the tools and resources available on Owning a Home aim to give you the information you need to feel more confident throughout the entire home buying process. Our tools are intended to help you decide what kind of loan you want to get, find a good deal from a mortgage lender, and close like a pro. We’ll help you spot red flags and ask the right questions.
Safer mortgage markets for you
From our very first day as an agency, we’ve been working hard to improve your experience when it comes to purchasing and paying for your home. We developed new forms that make it easier to compare your loan options, using your input to guide our decisions. We’ve also been working to make the market safer, cleaning up bad practices and requiring good ones. In addition, we’ve worked to get responses to your mortgage complaints, and we’ve explored ways to make the closing process less painful.
Continue Reading
Today, we’re releasing our third Snapshot of Complaints Received from Servicemembers, Veterans and their Families. The report details the data and trends from consumer complaints we’ve received from members of the military community since July 2011.
Here are just a few highlights:
- Debt collection complaints have continued to rise since our last report, and now make up 39 percent of total complaints. It is our largest category of complaints from the military community.
- Credit reporting remains a top category of concern. 72 percent of these complaints are about incorrect information on credit reports. This remains a significant issue for the military community, one that we highlighted earlier this year.
- Student loans are another concern. 49 percent of these complaints are about problems dealing with a lender or servicer. In these complaints, we continue to see long-standing trends, such as servicemembers complaining about not being provided their Servicemembers Civil Relief Act rights.
This year our report also highlights our outreach efforts that allowed us to connect with thousands of members of the military community, as well as three of our enforcement actions that recovered millions of dollars for affected consumers, primarily servicemembers, veterans, and their families. These figures represent the positive impact of the work we continue to do on behalf of those who serve.
Problems with account services
Basic account servicing stands out as a significant area of concern for servicemembers. Most consumers can call their financial institution, visit a branch, or connect online to try and get the help they need to maintain their account. Unfortunately, for military personnel and their families, the realities of military life, including deployments, frequent moves, and a high operational tempo, can sometimes make access to those services extremely challenging.
We found that servicemembers were often subject to a variety of account maintenance or penalty fees, as well as account-access restrictions, which were triggered due to aspects of their military service.
These problems raise concerns that financial institutions may not have a true understanding of the servicing needs of their military customers and may lack proper procedures and protections for them. Detailed examples of servicemember experiences can be found in Section II of the report.
Check out the snapshot to learn more.
We’re listening
As always, if you have a problem with a consumer financial product that you can’t resolve on your own; or if you know someone in that situation, please remember that you can submit a complaint online or by calling (855) 411-2372. We make your voice heard.
