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Do you qualify for Obama’s new HARP refi program?

By
Real Estate Agent with The Dream Big Team at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Champions BRE #01346382

Do you qualify for the updated home refinance program announced this week by President Obama?

The Home Affordable Refinance Program is aimed at helping homeowners take advantage of today’s historically low interest rates, even if they are upside-down on their current mortgage. President Obama this week expanded the qualifications to try to reach more struggling homeowners, but some people still are confused about whether they qualify.

Photo by jscreationzsThe new changes reduced fees for some borrowers and removed the cap on loan to value, allowing borrowers with loans that are more than 125 percent of their home’s value to participate. And banks won’t have to buy back the loans from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as part of the refinance, which had been required for some risky loans.

Industry insiders estimate 720,000 borrowers can qualify under the new guidelines, which is about 6.5 percent of the estimated 11 million underwater homeowners. As of Aug. 31, only 72,000 underwater homeowners had completed a HARP refi, according to real estate data firm CoreLogic.

Here are five quick questions to help determine whether you qualify for a HARP refinance:

1. Is your mortgage currently owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?

The program is only eligible for home loans that have been owned or backed by Freddie or Fannie since at least May 31, 2009. That doesn’t mean you get a mortgage statement from either of those entities. Even though you may write your monthly check to Bank of America or Wells Fargo, your loan could be owned or guaranteed by one of these two GSEs.

So how do you know? To find out if your loan qualifies, check online at:

Freddie Mac: https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/

Fannie Mae: http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/

Or call our office at 951-778-9700 and we’ll help you get that answer.

2. Are you behind on your mortgage payments?

To qualify for a HARP refinance, you must be current on your payments. You cannot have any payments that were 30 or more days late in the past six months, and you are allowed only one payment of 30 or more days late in the past 12 months, according to updated program guidelines.

Many loan modification and foreclosure-prevention programs in the past have been aimed at helping homeowners in distress. This program focuses on homeowners who have until now weathered the storm.

3. Do you have a job (or regular income)?

The homeowner must fit into regular underwriting guidelines, which require an income sufficient to afford the new house payment along with property taxes, insurance and all other expenses. Your lender will detail the income and expense ratios based on your specific situation.

4. Do you have equity in your home?

This may seem like an odd question, but there are actually a few homeowners with equity in their properties. HARP is limited to only those homeowners with less than 20 percent equity.

Homes with more than 20 percent equity can more easily qualify for existing conventional refinance programs and thus do not need this program.

5. Was your home refinanced in the past through the HARP program?

The updated guidelines do not allow a second refinance through HARP.

There are several other factors that must be considered, including a credit history. And of course, the biggest factor of all is that the program is voluntary: Banks can still reject a HARP refinance even if a homeowner meets all requirements.

But these five questions are the first benchmarks to help determine if you can benefit from HARP.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is expected to have final program details in place Nov. 15, and major lenders have predicted

WHAT IF YOU DON'T QUALIFY?

Homeowners who don’t qualify for HARP have several other options to consider if they are struggling with their current payments. Some homeowners have mortgages with payments expected to increase next year. Others are dealing with reduced income or must relocate for work.

In these cases, if HARP is not an option, you have alternatives. Call us today at 951-778-9700 for details. 

Posted by

(Brian Bean, broker/owner of Dream Big Real Estate, is a Homeowner Advocate and Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist. He can be reached directly at Brian@DreamBigRealEstate.com or 951-778-9700.)

Brian Bean
Certified Homeowner Advocate
CA BRE Lic #01346382
www.DreamBigRealEstate.com
Brian@DreamBigRealEstate.com

 

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