Hibernia Offers Skip-Pay Loan

Hibernia National Bank, Baton Rouge, La., has become one of only 12 banks in the nation offering a Fannie Mae-sponsored mortgage loan that allows qualified borrowers to skip up to two monthly payments per year and up to 10 payments over the life of the loan.Borrowers who take advantage of the PaymentPower option (available only on conventional 30-year fixed-rate loans) will have their loan recast each time they skip a payment, resulting in a "very small increase" in their monthly payments, Hibernia said. "This is an excellent feature that doesn't cost customers anything up front at closing, but allows them financial flexibility," said Paul Peters, president of Hibernia Mortgage Banking. "There is a small fee charged each time a payment is skipped, but it's totally up to the customer whether to skip a payment and how and when to use the proceeds." Hibernia can be found online at http://www.hibernia.com.