No doubt, you've been hearing or reading about the recent turmoil in the mortgage industry. Most likely, you've encountered the terms “sub-prime lender” and “sub-prime borrower" along the way. We'd like to share our opinions about the State of the Industry with you and, hopefully, clarify some of the concerns you may have about borrowing at this time.

For the past few years some mortgage companies and banks have been lending money as if there's no tomorrow. They made loans with short-term benefits paying little or no attention to the long-range effects their loans would have on their customers. For many of those lenders, “tomorrow” has come. The loans they had made that were, essentially, ticking time bombs have backfired and the lenders, themselves, are sustaining serious injuries.

Those borrowers who are financially healthy have several options for converting the riskier loans to safer programs. Unfortunately, borrowers with less than perfect credit, or “sub-prime borrowers,” have fewer or no options for getting out of these loans and many are suffering. Not surprisingly, the lenders who made these loans are facing tremendous delinquency and foreclosure problems.

As you visit the various pages on the First Hallmark site you'll notice that all of our programs are geared toward providing long-range benefits to our customers in addition to providing for their immediate needs. This has always been our focus. That's why, today, we have no trouble making loans to both “A” credit customers and those with problems in their credit history.

Our “sub-prime” loan programs are, and always have been, designed to make the future for our customers much more affordable than the past. And, as our previous clients have overwhelmingly proven, when people can afford to make their payments on time, they will. Instead of delinquencies and foreclosures, our customers, to a very high degree, experience improved credit ratings and financial growth.

If you are in the market right now to purchase a home, interest rates are still incredibly low. If you are currently holding high credit card balances, there will never be a better time to pay them off. We'll show you programs that can save you money immediately, and continue to save you a tremendous amount of money for many years to come.

We regret that people will suffer from the irresponsible business practices of a few lenders. If there is a bright note that can be derived from this situation, it is that the industry will benefit from this “maturing” process and, ultimately, the borrower will benefit from more responsible lending practices among lenders in the future.

Please, let me know your thoughts or concerns at: mythoughts@firsthallmark.com

Bruno Viscariello