WAVERLY - When Randy and Julie Lee launched their Open Mortgage franchise, their idea was to fit would-be homeowners with the right deal to get them a house.

Now, with an ailing economy in which a flurry of foreclosures is a chief symptom, the Lees' job seems to revolve more around keeping worried homeowners in their homes.

The job is called foreclosure mitigation.

And, it seems to be keeping them busy these days.

"Maybe six months ago, I started getting individuals who maybe wanted to refinance, because of things they had been through - maybe some loss of income, a job or health."

And, of course, mortgage payments had begun to lapse.

That has become a key part of the Lees' job at Open Mortgage, which they started in 2000.

"After that 30-day and 60-day period behind schedule, the foreclosure starts," Lee said. "We act as a middle person between them and their lender, allowing them to explain to the lender and show them they are back on track again and that things are OK with them again, to not only decrease interest rates for them but to get rid of or remove the late payments, stopping foreclosures."

The Annapolis, Md.-based company - the Lees' office is part of a chain of about 140 Open Mortgage offices nationwide including five in Iowa - has been able to help enough customers to keep the company successful during a time when mortgage companies across the county have been struggling, Randy Lee said.

"We've been pretty successful at it," he said. "Lenders are now more willing to work with borrowers. The last thing the lender wants is that home back."

There are no miracles: Borrowers have to be willing to bring a lapsed mortgage up to date, Lee said.

Homeowners who seek out the services of Open Mortgage are looking to do just that, Lee noted. The problem is bringing borrower and lender to the same metaphorical table, he said.

His company helps to do make that happen, he added.

"Communication between that individual and the lender is almost impossible at times," Lee said. "Even for me, as someone who deals with lenders every day, the time you spend on hold and the number of people you have to go through, if you're not on top of it, within three days to a week, that individual has so many people to deal with, communication is very difficult."

More so now, with more mortgages going bad. According to the Federal Reserve and the Mortgage Bankers Association, the percentage of mortgage loans that were "seriously delinquent."

Seriously delinquent means 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure - averaged 1.7 percent from 1979 to 2006, with a low of about 0.7 percent in 1979 and a high of about 2.4 percent in 2002.

However, by the second quarter of 2008, the share of seriously delinquent mortgages had rocketed to 4.5 percent. About 1.2 million foreclosures were started in the first half of 2008 across the U.S., an increase of 79 percent from the 650,000 in the first half of 2007.

"I started seeing it back in January and, from there, I probably would say in my small world, there's at least four to five people a month coming in, whereas even in '07, I hardly saw anything," Lee said. "Two-year ARMs (adjustable-rate mortgages) are coming adjustable, and credit requirements to refinance that ARM to a fixed rate are higher than before, not allowing that borrower to get that fixed program."

The Lees are spending a lot more time fixing existing mortgage woes than locking down new deals, Lee said.

"It's not 100 percent of what I do, but it's definitely a large portion of what I do, more now than ever," he said.

The mortgage crisis is bound to continue awhile longer, Lee noted.

"Honestly, from everything we see and hear about, we're not even sure we're at the midway point, not even halfway through what we'll see, as far as foreclosures are concerned," he said. "Two-year ARMS are still adjusting. The home buyer basically, is giving up. From what I've seen, by the time they get to me, they've almost given up any hope of saving their homes."

But, it doesn't have to be a hopeless situation, Lee says, adding that his company has had success in coming up with remedies.

"It may be that the homeowner is working, calling and leaving a message, and nobody is calling them back," Lee said. "They want to save their home but they don't have the time and don't know how to do it. The lack of communication is really the bottom line."

The Lees' company helps applicants ply through a lot of confusion and clear up some potential problems, he said.

"It can get real confusing for the consumer, the home buyer, to try to fix some of these things on their own. They don't know what to do, so I spend a lot of time working with that individual."

And, Lee said, the situation is bound to improve for mortgages before too long.

"The last six months have been pretty discouraging, but for '09, we're looking for interest rates staying attractive to buyers," he said.

Contact Jim Offner at (319) 291-1598 or jim.offner@wcfcourier.com