1% Mortgage - From Joy To Time Bomb



A disabled man on a fixed income risks losing his home over his adjustable rate mortgage.

By JACOB H. FRIES
STP Times
June 20, 2007


ST. PETERSBURG -- The official-looking notice appeared in his mailbox last year. To Denith Harrigan, the promise of an interest rate as low as 1 percent was too good to ignore.

Disabled and on a fixed income of $2,100 a month, Harrigan could finally pay off credit card debts and fix his leaky pool. What a deal.

Or so he thought.

Now just a few months into his new mortgage, Harrigan is in serious risk of losing his house. In less than three years, his payment could grow to equal his total income.

"I got into something I had no intention of getting involved in," said Harrigan, 36, who lives alone in a ranch-style house in Lakewood Estates. "I believe this should be against the law."

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