Current Index Value

The maximum allowable ratio of loan-to- value (LTV) on any loan program. Generally, these are set by mortgage insurers or by lenders and can range up to 100%, although some programs will ...

Refinancing that omits some of the standard risk control measures and is therefore quicker and less costly. The rationale for streamlined refinancing is that, while it is an entirely new ...

A charge imposed by the lender if the borrower pays off the loan early. The charge is usually expressed as a percent of the loan balance at the time of prepayment or a specified number of ...

A biweekly mortgage on which biweekly payments are applied to the balance every two weeks, rather than monthly, as on a conventional biweekly. ...

An agreement by the lender not to exercise the legal right to foreclose in exchange for an agreement by the borrower to a payment plan that will cure the borrowers delinquency. ...

A mortgage on which half the monthly payment is paid every two weeks. This results in 26 payments per year, which is the equivalent of 13 monthly payments rather than 12. Because of the ...

A computer-driven process for informing the loan applicant very quickly, sometimes within a few minutes, whether the application will be approved, denied, or forwarded to an underwriter. ...

The standards imposed by lenders in determining whether a borrower can be approved for a loan. These standards are more comprehensive than qualification requirements in that they include ...

A mortgage loan for 125% of property value. Since such loans are only partly secured, they have many of the characteristics of unsecured loans, including relatively high interest rates. ...