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Why Clark Howard says it is time to refinance your mortgage

The Libor index is going away.

The London interbank offered rate (Libor) is being phased out over the next five years.

Back in 2012, it was linked to fraud by member banks who help set the daily rate of bank to bank borrowing.

Libor is now regulated by the the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which says the benchmark is losing relevance.

Adjustable rate mortgages are tied to Libor and it is not clear what will happen with those mortgages once it is gone.

Lenders have a vague idea of what to do when Libor disappears.

Most ARM contracts specify that if the underlying index is no longer available, the lender or investor will pick a new "comparable" index.

With no clear description of what a comparable index would be, banks can pretty much set the rate at whatever they want.

WSB Consumer expert Clark Howard says, "This is really a booster shot to your getting out there and getting started with refinancing your mortgage into a fixed rate."

He says if you are in an adjustable rate mortgage and you plan to stay in your home, now is the time to get into a fixed mortgage.

"Fixed rates are still good, get into one of those," says Howard.

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