Too good to be true re-finance offer via mail

[jlt19]

We often get those letters in the mail about refinancing our current mortgage and shred them. But one we got the other day caught my eye. 

It says "JLT's DH we are contacting you regarding your $350,000 mortgage loan" and an offer to refinance our current FHA to an FHA streamline mortgage for a 30 year fixed rate of .022% (.029%APR).  Fine print says it's based on an initial balance of $350k at .022% (.029%APR) with 0.000 discount points and .600% LTV and no down payment required.  Back fine print says this assumes minimum FICO score of 720, max 45% debt to income ratio, owner occupied and no HOA dues. 

Now, there are a lot of things wrong with the scenarios they laid out (DH isn't even on the mortgage, mortgage was never that high, but that's what the house is probably worth now, etc). 

But that interest rate cannot be real, right? Like it's got to be a typo or some sort of trick. 

Anyone ever hear of Caliber Home Loans? I looked them up and while their reviews are not great, I didn't see anything about this misrepresentation of rates. 

[mommin]

Maybe they don’t know how decimals and percents work? Like, it should have been 2.2% which is .022 of a whole and they just combined them? Not everyone is meant to math. Haha.

[clairebear]

Caliber is a legit lender. However it seems like there's a typo on the interest rate. I do appraisals (and have done them for Caliber), but the lowest rate I've come across is 1.99 and that was with the guy buying some points. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call them and see what they can offer! So many people are doing refis right now with interest rates so dang low.

[madringal]

does it really say ".600%"? This is pretty clearly them saying they want a 60% LTV. So the decimal in there make me feel like all their decimals are off and it's a typo.

And, yes, Caliber is legit. They are one of the investor companies I use for my FHA loans (I am a mortgage loan officer).

[mcsangel2]

Caliber has been our loan servicer since we refied in 2013. If they're offering rates like that, we should refi again!!

[TR]

Jun 12, 2021 21:36:36 GMT -5 madringal said:

does it really say ".600%"? This is pretty clearly them saying they want a 60% LTV. So the decimal in there make me feel like all their decimals are off and it's a typo.

And, yes, Caliber is legit. They are one of the investor companies I use for my FHA loans (I am a mortgage loan officer).

Yeah, this makes it seem like a mail merge/spreadsheet formatting error lol

[lessel]

I vote typo but I would also try to call and take advantage of the mistake! 🤷🏻 Lol

[jlt19]

Jun 12, 2021 21:36:36 GMT -5 madringal said:

does it really say ".600%"? This is pretty clearly them saying they want a 60% LTV. So the decimal in there make me feel like all their decimals are off and it's a typo.

And, yes, Caliber is legit. They are one of the investor companies I use for my FHA loans (I am a mortgage loan officer).

Oooh, yeah. I didn't catch that. I mean, I realized it was 60% LTV, but didn't think about where the decimals were on that one.

So, you're probably right. I'm sure it has something to do with formatting and inputting the rate wrong. 

Or, they're actual sneaky assholes and purposefully put in typos to get people to call THEM and try to sell them on the real rates. 

[Susie]

If you have 60% LTV and are interested in refinancing to lower your rate, I'd look into a conventional loan rather than an FHA (streamline or otherwise).  It doesn't hurt to reach out to a broker and see what they might be able to offer you.

[jlt19]

Jun 13, 2021 20:10:50 GMT -5 Susie said:

If you have 60% LTV and are interested in refinancing to lower your rate, I'd look into a conventional loan rather than an FHA (streamline or otherwise).  It doesn't hurt to reach out to a broker and see what they might be able to offer you.

Thanks. We're actually at roughly 50%, but are thinking of moving. Plus our rate is 3.25%, and we're nearly 10 years in, so not worth refinancing unless it's actually less than 1%!

[jlt19]

LOL, got the error letter in the mail yesterday (just opened it now). It was definitely a mistake. oh well, it sure was fun to think about a 30 year fixed mortgage and only having to pay a TOTAL of $800 interest!