Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• McNerney meeting with Johnson

• 'McMansions' sprout up

• Council discusses low income discount for water, sewer

• McNerney Calls on Bush to keep State of the Union promises

• Film about Lodi pedophile priest O'Grady nominated for best documentary feature

• Planning commission may snuff SPARC

• Galt teachers protest pay raise offer

• S.J. Supervisors vote to back bio-lab

• Regional Roundup

• Logbook

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Group investigates reports of haunting

October 31st, 2009

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• Tokay High evacuation

• Gated communities in Lodi

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (65)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (60)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (56)
• Universal health care solves big problems (42)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Words from our forefathers (26)
• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home (18)
• Falcons trample over Galt's playoff hopes (17)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (17)

ADVERTISEMENT

Mortgage brokers warn against misleading loan offers

Mortgage brokers are alerting Lodi residents to watch out for solicitors trying to convince people to refinance their home loans to pay off their holiday debt.

"The message we want to deliver is 'buyer beware'," said Steve Nilssen, a senior loan consultant for Summit Funding in Lodi. "If it sounds like something that's too good to be true, it probably is."

Refinancing may be a bad idea for those who have bad credit or are in bankruptcy or foreclosure, according to a prepared statement by the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.

Some advertisements offer a 1.99 adjustable rate mortgage, a 5.75 percent fixed rate for 30 years or a one-quarter percent interest rate. Some of these advertisements are against California Real Estate law, Nilssen said.

For example, a sample advertisement e-mailed to the News-Sentinel by the California Association of Mortgage Brokers shows an offer of a 1.99 percent adjustable rate mortgage. That rate is likely to apply for the first month only, Nilssen said. The rate in large print has below it "APR 7.23 percent" in smaller print.

State law requires the annual percentage rate be of equal type size as the interest rate, Nilssen said.

Offers are being presented by direct mail, phone solicitations and newspaper advertisements, he added.

Actual mortgage rates, Nilssen said, are based on the customer's percentage of the loan request in relation to the property value, whether the loan is for a purchase or refinance, credit profile and the debt-to-income ratio.

For more information, see the California Association of Mortgage Brokers' Web site, http://www.cambweb.org.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

First published: Wednesday, January 24, 2007