There's been an emerging news story in the past few weeks highlighting how even seemingly low risk borrowers are being turned away for refinancing and new mortgage deals by banks and small mortgage outfits alike. This is surprising on one hand since they're passing up lucrative fees, especially in light of Obama's recent reward programs. On the other hand, this must say something about the perception of the risk in the borrower pool. Today, CBSMarketwatch ran this story asking banks to just fess up and say they're not lending instead of trying to appease politicians and angry Americans.

Yesterday, I heard a piece on CNBC they had guests on saying that with regard to FICO scores, 760 is the new 720 (read about why knowing your FICO score is critical and how to improve yours) and get this - if you've EVER had a negative amortization (also referred to as pick-a-pay or option ARM), you can't get a refinancing deal at most outfits. This is actually pretty alarming. If you made every payment on time and have plenty of cash in the bank and verifiable income, apparently, the thinking is that because you took on that kind of loan in the past, you're now viewed as a higher credit risk. I hate when groups of people are punished for bad behavior in a subset.

What are you seeing out there? Can you get a loan?

RECORD LOWS on Mortgage/Refi Rates - Compare your Savings and get Free Quotes: Mortgage Calculator

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