(Host) The head of the Vermont Bankers Association says local lenders are trying to work with borrowers whose property was severely damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.
The flooding damaged or destroyed some 700 homes. In some cases, homeowners are faced with paying a mortgage on property that no longer exists.
Chris D’Elia is president of the Vermont Bankers Association. He says most banks are being flexible with borrowers affected by Irene.
(D’Elia) "What we are typically seeing is a deferment of payments or interest only payments for a period of time until all that other information can be accumulated and you can make a really good assessment of how to move forward. For the extreme cases of where you’ve got no house and no property left, and there’s a mortgage on the property, more than likely our banks are going to consider writing off that mortgage. I mean, there’s just nothing there to work with."
(Host) D’Elia said the association is working to get an accurate count of how many people are in that worst-case situation.