Prepayment Penalty Often Enforceable

  Question:  When we refinanced the $220,000 mortgage loan on our Phoenix home, the mortgage lender charged a 3 percent prepayment penalty of $6,600 to pay off this mortgage loan.  Can a lender charge a prepayment penalty without showing that they lost money or some other reason?  Are we entitled to an income tax deduction…

Read More

Tax Breaks Can Lift Homeownership

Question: In recent articles about the current annual $1 trillion deficit of the federal government, one of the ways discussed to reduce this annual deficit is to eliminate or limit the mortgage-interest deduction for homes. This deduction costs up to $100 billion per year. Why is there a mortgage-interest deduction for homes when there is…

Read More