Chase Loan 1% for 36 Months

[nene17]

I receive a letter from Chase today stating the following:

"We're writing with details about when the 36 month 1% effective interest rate benefit for your mortgage modification starts and ends.  The effective interest rate benefit is being provided to U.S. servicemembers who have been on active duty since September 11, 2001, because we are committed to helping you have an affordable mortgage payment.  Your 36 month 1% effective interest rate will begin on 5/1/11 and end on 5/1/14..."

I was unsure of this because I didn't apply for anything so I called.  The rep told me that my interest rate would be 1% for 3 years because I am in the military and went through a loan modification with them previous.  I had to clarify because I thought he was saying that I would be paying 1% less than my current rate, but no, it's actually 1%.  He also said that if I have been on active duty and had my orders, I could send those to benefit from the Servicemember Civil Relief Act which caps your interest rate at 6%.  They would retroactively go back and reapply my payments from the time I was on orders to 4% instead of the 6%. 

I must say, I am truly happy with Chase and what a blessing.  This is the first time they've ever shown me any compassion and wow, what a big way to make my day! 

Hope this helps anyone else who may benefit as well.  They're military department number is 877-469-0110 and he said they're available 24/7.

[Anonymous]

Be very careful to read and understand all of the fine print. This sounds very suspicious to me.  Just my opinion. Hope it all works out well.

Thanks for serving

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Very interesting offer, hope it pans out.  That phone number is legit, so it is definitely Chase and not just some company pretending to be.  Make sure your payments just aren't calculated at a 1% interest rate and you are being charged 4% or 6% interest rate, that is called "deferred interest"... if you haven't, specifically ask the question "So if I make the 1% interest payment, there is no deferred interest?".  I doubt Chase would do that to a Veteran but you won't know until you ask.

Also, what happens after 36 months?  Goes back to the normally scheduled interest rate?

[chasmith]

This sounds like a great opportunity as long as they don't mess with the credit reporting to show other than paid as agreed.

This isn't as altruistic as it seems - Chase just settled a class action suit for ignoring the requirements of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act at the time you went on orders.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42710257/ns/business-us_business/  They may be offering this when you would be eligible for more.

Thank you for your service.

[JBjunior]

Chasmith is correct.  An attorney discussed this with our base recently and Chase is trying to repair a lot of damage that they have done the last few years.  They are offering very good deals to many people that they wronged and some new mortgages as well for PR.  They aren't doing it because they are nice, they are doing it to save themselves.

[nene17]

Thanks to everyone for the comments.  Yes, I know they wouldn't be doing anything out of the goodness of their hearts unless they were trying to "right a wrong" or avoid punishment.  Nonetheless, I am greatful because I needed this break.  Yes, my loan will go back to the orginal interest rate after the 36 months are up.  I've been in my modified loan now for about 6 months but the process took over a year.  I guess I was lucky because they didn't ruin my credit during the process.  Everything has been reported as "paid as agreed."  Someone from Chase called me to day to see if I had already sent my orders so that they can get me the 4% for the time I was in Iraq.  I guess they are really "tryiing" to not get into anymore trouble.  Let's hope it lasts and hopefully they will learn how to treat customers from here on out, not just military. 

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Glad the terms were fully laid out - and that Chase (or any lender for that matter) is trying to help out their customers, whether being forced or not.