The Scoop on the Government Refinance Program for Help

Lately with the economy the way that it is, lots of people need lots of help to be able to make it month to month.  It hasn’t been easy lately.

So as of December 1, 2011 they have made changes to the Housing Affordability Program.  And while this has not been wildly successful over the course of the years, the changes are expected to have improved so that more people can be helped.

Nothing tried, nothing gained.  So…what is the scoop?

– Starting December 1, 2011 authorized lenders may begin the loan

application process for borrowers who have Fannie/Freddie mortgages with a current loan to value greater than 125%. HOWEVER those loans cannot be approved until March 2012 at the soonest because the Fannie/Freddie approval software will not be updated until then. So the soonest that one of these loans can work is March 2012 (fyi, it is called a HARP 2.0 loan) the loan with an LTV of more than 125% could actually close is probably April of 2012. (Better late than never, right?)

– For Freddie Mac loans, if the first mortgage is less than 80% of the value the home the first and second mortgage combined cannot be more than 105% of the current value of the home. (There will probably be price breaks for these loans though).

– There is apparently no change to the eligibility dates so people who got their current loan after May of 2009 appear to not be eligible for this still.

– There is no mention of changes to the mortgage insurance rules. We will have to wait and see if there is more incentive for lenders and MI companies to allow it with the new program.

1. How many authorized lenders will participate in the HARP 2.0 program? There are no requirements for banks to participate, so it depends on the bank.
2. What will the pricing be for these high LTV HARP 2.0 loan? (Probably significantly worse than loans with lower LTV’s, just makes sense.)

So while these guidelines shed some light on the new program there are a lot of questions still to be answered.

We don’t do loans, we want to inform everyone if it is possible to help them.  So if this article is helpful, let us know!  We appreciate everyone and the current economic times.

If you have questions, we will always point you in the best direction and offer the best help available for you and your family.  Just email us at [email protected]