They have you where they want you. I have a reputable and surprisingly well-organized mortgage lender, so at least they don't mess up crediting my payments.
It used to be every couple of years I could call them and they would reset my rate about half-way from my rate to the current rate. I didn't abuse it; I would only ask if there was a good sized gap. It was win-win. They would get to keep a performing mortgage at a somewhat higher than average rate, I could renegotite without a hassle or expense.
The last time I tried it, they told me the had a program with some kind of fancy name for it. They explained that I was eligible for this fantastic program if I had 75% percent equity. I was pretty sure they got the fraction inverted, so I had him repeat it twice. Its true, if you have say, a $250K mortgage, they will do the no-cost renegotiation but only if your house is worth three times of what remains on the loan.
So I'm between a rock and a hard place; My equity is so high that the renegotiation fees would swallow almost all the benefit of a refi even though I'm substantially above market now, but I don't have quite the stupendous overcollateralization that would qualify me for the E-Z refi.
I keep hearing a lot of complaints about "Government motors" But at least the government charged a high interest rate and took significant equity. The banks just had a fire-hose of money turned on them, no strings attached, and they continue to receive stupendous government support and subsidy in the form of these Quantitative Easings that don't seem to help anybody but the banks.
Don't get me started on property insurance companies that never seem to pay any claims.
