Can anyone save this loan?

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One of the best reporters I ever worked with told me that, whenever a headline asks a yes-or-no question, odds are pretty good the answer is ‘no.’ Otherwise, you wouldn’t pose it as a question, would you?

Today’s L.A. Times profiles a housing counselor who works with homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage, and are looking for ways to refinance or restructure their loans. The first anecdote in the story struck me as a hopeless case right off the bat. You tell me, though: Can this loan be saved?

The borrower, a 47-year-old woman, purchased a three-bedroom North Hills home for $355,000 in 2004, then refinanced in 2005 and again in 2006. The story doesn’t say how much she now owes, but I’m going to guess $400,000. She can’t afford her current payment, which is $3,700 a month. She told the housing counselor she’s hoping to refinance into a fixed-rate loan and is hoping to pay about $1,600 a month.

So here’s the math the way I do it (on a mortgage calculator at Bankrate.com): To pay off a $400K loan on a 30-year-fixed, with a payment of $1,600/month, she’ll need an interest rate of 2.6%. Give or take.

Alternatively, if she gets a very good rate -- say 5.5% -- her $1,600/month will service a 30-year loan of about $280,000.

One more way to look at it: If she gets a very good rate -- 5.5% -- her payments on a $400K loan will be about $2,271 a month.

But lastly, and most important, let’s forget about the math entirely. As sunsetbeachguy points out in comments below, the question of whether the loan can be saved ‘conveniently sets aside the question of underwater valuation.’ Of course -- the borrower probably owes more than the house is worth. A loan like that is unlikely to be refinanced. Period, end of story. Right?

So here is where I ask your advice: In the real world, could that loan be reworked? How? Remember, it’s probably underwater. E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.