OBAMA MORTGAGE RELIEF: ENHANCED HARP FROM FHFA COMING SOON IN 2012
If you are a homeowner who would like mortgage relief, President Obama is trying to make it easier for you. Today he will be announcing some changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) that will make it easier to get accepted into the program.
Refinancing now when interest rates are so low is something that many homeowners can greatly benefit from. Being able to secure a lower interest loan may be the difference between being able to keep a home or being foreclosed. FHFA which is the Federal Housing Finance Industry has put out this important PDF which goes over the changes you need to know to see if you can qualify for assistance from HARP. Your very first step is to determine whether your mortgage loan is owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae because it needs to be to qualify. If it is not owned but guaranteed by either of the two, that would qualify as well.
One of the main changes to HARP is that there will no longer be any loan to value limit on a fixed rate mortgage to be accepted under HARP. Homeowners who have adjustable rate mortgages have to have their LTV under 105%.
These changes to HARP will be in the works during November and December of 2011but may not be available until the first quarter of 2012. President Obama does not need approval from Congress for this so you don’t have to worry about bipartisan bickering which would stall it.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program was intended to help people in need to be able to get better interest rates on their mortgage so they could keep their homes. States like Nevada, California, Arizona, and Florida have been the hardest hit during this foreclosure crises and have seen home values go down the most there. These new enhanced HARP rules will make refinancing a real option for more homeowners in their time of need, something the government should be doing.
