SD Realtor, it seemed like a logical step to me too, but it’s a money loser for the investors. When I mentioned this restructuring possibility to a broker, he said the investors would not be willing to take a lower interest rate. The ARMs have a lower rate initially, but there was a price for that, via high prepay penalty and the loan’s interest rate moving with the market. So why would the MBS holder give someone a loan at below market rates? That is the question. A guy’s loan resets at today’s 6% rate (or whatever it is), and now the bank is supposed to let him rewrite it at 2% or 3% or whatever the teaser rate was, which is the rate he needs to keep affording the payment. So the investor is basically giving the guy a 50% reduction in interest, and halving his income. I don’t know if that is really in their best interest.
