Negative amortization loans calculate two interest
rates. The first is called the payment rate the second is the actual
interest rate. The payment rate is typically capped at 7.5% of the
previous payment. The true interest rate is calculated as simply the index
plus the margin without periodic caps. Borrowers are given a choice of
which rate to pay. Thus advertisers of negative amortization loans often
refer to these loans as "payment option" loans. While it is true that the
borrower has a payment option, which offers flexibility, the borrower will
also be subject to the true interest rate.
A
loan that allows negative amortization means the borrower is allowed to
make a monthly mortgage payment that is less than the interest actually
owed during that month. For example, let's say we have a $200,000 loan
with an adjustable rate that's currently sitting at five percent. Simple
interest on this loan is easy to calculate. Multiply the interest rate by
the loan amount and you have the annual interest of $10,000. Divide
$10,000 by 12 months and the monthly "interest only" payment is $833.33 or
simply here is the formula for your monthly payment for interest only
loans: loan balance x interest rates / 12 = monthly payment.
Now, let's say that there's a
provision in the loan documents that allow the borrower to make a minimum
payment based on a "payment rate" of four percent. So your lowest payment
would be $666.67 because the "payment rate" is based upon four percent,
not the actual interest rate, which is five percent.
So if you make make the lowest
allowable payment you are actually losing $166.67 in equity. The balance
of the loan increases to $200,166.67.
Simply said with neg-am loans is
that if you don't make the full payment and the rest of the payment
will be added to your loan balance, thus increasing your loan balance. It
is up to you how much your monthly payment will be.