The Federal Home Finance Agency announced big changes to its Home Affordable Refinance Program Monday. More commonly called HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program is meant to give “underwater homeowners” opportunity to refinance.
With average, 30-year fixed rate mortgages still hovering near 4.000 percent, there are more than a million homeowners in Boise and nationwide who stand to benefit from the program overhaul.
Want to know if you qualify? You can either check out our “7 Easy Steps” or read on to see if you meet the following 5 basic criteria of the new HARP program. If for some reason you don’t qualify under HARP, there still might be hope if you have an FHA, VA or RD Loan (however these are different programs).
1) Your existing home loan must be guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac… check these 2 websites to see if Fannie or Freddie own your loan:
- Fannie Mae look up: http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/
- Freddie Mac look up: https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/
2) Your loan must have been originated prior to 6/1/2009.
3) Your home must be a 1- to 4-unit property
4) You must have a perfect mortgage payment history going back 6 months
5) You may not have had more than one 30-day late payment on your mortgage going back 12 months
Most notable about the new HARP refinance program, though, is that the government is waiving loan-to-value requirements on a HARP loans. Homeowners’ participation in the program are no longer restricted by their home’s appraised value. In fact, the new HARP doesn’t even require an appraisal, in most instances.
With the new HARP program, underwater mortgages can be refinanced without a Loan-to-Value limit or penalty.
According to the government’s press release, pricing considerations for the new HARP program will be released on or before November 15, 2011; and lenders are expected to be offering the program as of December 1, 2011.
So what are the potential gotchas for homeowners who meet the criteria listed above? Lenders often have minimum credit score requirements of 620 despite the Fannie Mae guidelines. If you have mortgage insurance on your loan or a second mortgage, that can cause hiccups too.
The FHFA’s official press release contains an FAQ section. In it, you’ll find minimum qualification standards, as well as information related to condominiums and to mortgage insurance. The HARP program is meant to help a wide group of homeowners, but each applicant’s situation is unique. For specific HARP questions, be sure to call us (208) 287-1717.
