Advise for families that follow the rules

Dear Mr. President,

I write you this evening from Albuquerque, New Mexico. My husband and I have been married for almost 24 years we have lived in our home for 23 of these years. The 90's were tough on us we both lost jobs and then took lower paying jobs but at least it was work. Because of these circumstances and other things that is just life, we've refinanced our house several times.

Our current mortgage rate is at 7.5% We pay our mortgage on time each month and we are current on all our bills. My husband and I have good jobs we have health insurance, we pay taxes and are proud to be Americans.

What concerns me is we are unable to refinance our home at a lower interest because like so many other things in the last several years the value has dropped. Also since we pay our mortgage on time our current mortgage company won't even consider us for refinancing. Honestly, why should they? They are getting good money from us why offer us something better when we are already paying at a higher rate. Yet, if we default on our loan and not pay our bills then there are programs that can help us.

So here is my question, we hear that there is a new option for folks like us called HARP, we tried researching this but have not been able to locate a reliable source. Can you help us find a reliable source to get information on HARP? The last person we talked to told us we could not qualify because 23 years ago when we bought the house we had the mortgage insurance. This didn't make sense because the last time we re-financed it we didn't have this insurance.

Regardless, it's disturbing to read, hear, and see that people like my husband and I who do everything we are supposed to be doing can't get help. We are not looking for a hand out or special treatment. We would just like a mortgage company to give us an opportunity to get a better interest rate.

It's sad to think that the rich get richer, the poor get assistance and the middle class are left to hold the bag. I'm not placing blame on any party or economic class I just find it interesting that the people who seem to be doing the right thing don't have programs to help them.

Thank you for the opportunity to sent this message to you.

C & L Black