Re-fis unlikely for some Calif. homeowners

LOS ANGELES, March 6 (UPI) -- California homeowners who could access the federal mortgage modification are few because their loan-to-value ratio exceeds the plan's limits, analysts said.

U.S. President Barack Obama's plan would allow homeowners who are underwater -- meaning they owe more than their home is worth -- to get new, lower-rate loans for as much as 105 percent of the value of their homes.

About one-third of California homeowners are underwater but the majority of them owe more than 105 percent, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

"They're underwater by six figures in many cases," Greg McBride, a Bankrate.com senior analyst, told the Times. "Many homeowners in Southern California are left to twist in the wind."

The other aspect of the administration's plan would provide incentives mortgage lenders as inducements to modify homeowners' loans so their payments are no more than 31 percent of their incomes.

That part, too, could be problematic in California, the Times said, because the state unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in January, compared with 7.6 percent nationwide.

A Mortgage Bankers' Association report released Thursday indicated nearly 12 percent of U.S. homeowners were in arrears or foreclosure. In some pockets of California, housing was socked by the triple-whammy of a high number of exotic loans, overbuilding and surging unemployment, the organization's chief economist said.