Countrywide Unveils Skip-Pay Loan

Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has introduced a new loan that allows qualified homeowners to skip up to two monthly payments per year and up to 10 payments over the life of the loan.The PaymentPower Mortgage option, available on conventional 30-year fixed-rate loans, offers the payment flexibility in return for a one-time upfront payment or a fee of $100-$230 per skipped payment, depending on the original loan amount, the company said. Skipped payments are capitalized and added to the remaining loan balance, resulting in a recalculated, "slightly higher" monthly payment, Countrywide said. "Increasingly, we are seeing that the ability to manage home loan debt has great appeal to homebuyers," said Vijay Lala, senior vice president of product development and support at Countrywide. "People also want flexibility in their monthly mortgage payments for the times they need it." Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.