AUGUSTA (Nov 10): Forecasters are predicting 2008 could be the worst year yet for foreclosures on homes financed with sub-prime mortgages, but the state’s consumer credit office says it already is getting almost daily phone calls from Mainers who can’t repay their loans.
“We know there’s a problem because of the phone calls we are getting nearly every day from consumers, who are unable to make their mortgage payments,” said Will Lund, head of the Office of Consumer Credit Protection.
Lund said his office initially underestimated the problem. “There was a perception that Mainers would be conservative and would only opt for fixed-rate loans, and Maine lenders were conservative and would only offer loans Mainers could afford,” Lund said. “That perception turned out to be myth.”
Lund’s office regulates 1,000 nonbank mortgage companies with licenses to do business in Maine. He said mortgage-related complaints have more than tripled in the last year.
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