Pricing for Bad Credit Borrowers

While bad credit most often means higher interest rates and origination fees for anyone needing a loan, there are limits to amounts generally deemed proper in the mortgage industry. A point on a loan means a fee corresponding to one percent of the amount of the loan. As indicated in the charts, people with great credit may sometimes pay no points while those with poor credit may pay up to four points or five points. Unwary customers may find loan brokers attempting to charge them as much as ten points. Occasionally charging this many points is justified.

For example a loan of only $15,000.00 for ten points still presents a relatively small fee in terms of the total dollars charged. I have seen other "hard money" loans where private financiers take risks well beyond even the standard sub-prime market where perhaps the extra fees make sense. In general, however, higher points should be a red flag that someone is trying to take advantage of you. It is not uncommon for such transactions to be explained by a claim that the mortgage broker can provide a loan where no one else can. Most cases do not merit these claims. Finding a loan broker or lender to do a difficult loan may take some extra work on the part of the borrower, but with enough diligent effort sources can be found that will not only make the loan but will treat the borrower fairly.

What many borrowers fail to notice regarding points could cost them many thousands of dollars. Points may bear many names like "origination fees", "discount fees", "broker fees" or "yield spread premium". Regardless of what they are called there are two basic forms of points. The first type I will refer to here as "Upfront Points". The borrower pays these points to either the broker or the lender as compensation for creating the loan transaction. In general points represent a loan brokers only source of income. They work hard to make a loan come together and deserve to be paid.

On the other hand some unscrupulous brokers may charge points far in excess of the industry standards to a customer who does not realize what to expect. The chart below should provide a general guide for consumer expectations. In addition to these points borrowers may have the option of paying additional points to "buy down" the rate. As long as the borrower understands the mathematics there is nothing wrong with buying down a rate using points. Just remember that the numbers dictate that most often a minimum of 3 to 5 years will be needed to break even on buying down a rate. Unless you have a fairly high level of confidence that you will be remaining in the house and you will not be refinancing for a very, very long time buying down the rate may not make sense. For the majority of people homes and mortgages are often sold or refinanced over periods of time 5 years and less making buying down a rate imprudent.

The second type of point I'll refer to as a "Back End Points". The lender generally pays these points to the mortgage broker. In some cases these fees simply represent additional incentive from the lender to the broker to make a particular loan. In other cases it represents a payment from the lender to the broker as a reward for obtaining a loan with a higher interest rate. For example a borrower may potentially be able to obtain a loan at a 10% interest rate yet the broker will only offer an 11% interest rate in order to receive two extra back end points from the lender. In cases where a lender is merely trying to promote a certain product and offering brokers a small reward through back end points, for example one point or less, there may be no harm to the consumer. I have seen cases where back end points may be useful, particularly in an effort to save a house from foreclosure and where available funds are so limited that closing fees make the difference between keeping a house or losing a house. By charging no up front points and allowing the broker to be paid through back end points it is possible for the broker to make his fair compensation on a loan and for the borrower to complete a transaction with thousands of dollars less out of pocket at time of closing. The borrower in such cases should make sure they are aware of exactly what is transpiring and attempt as soon as feasible to refinance into a lower interest loan.

Problems with back end points predominately take two forms. First, as with front end points, unscrupulous brokers may attempt to charge far in excess of market practices. These problems are compounded by the second issue: some states do not require disclosure of back end points, leaving the consumer no way to even realize what is happening to them unless they have a very, very clear understanding of market interest rates which allow them to discover a discrepancy resulting from back end points. Where mandated reporting exists or has been undertaken by a responsible loan broker look for back end points on the HUD1 closing statement form near the top of page 2. Since the broker got paid directly by the lender the figures will not be in the columns with the numbers. Look for it as a part of a description on the left. It may be called a "yield spread premium" or simply list the fee as an amount paid from the lender to the broker paid outside closing (POC).