HARP 2.0 Details Continue to Roll Out
Atlanta, GA - Since the initial announcement from the Obama administration in December there has been a steady flow of details release filling in some of the major questions regarding the HARP 2.0 Refinance Program.
Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is designed to help you get a new, more affordable, more stable mortgage. HARP refinance loans require a loan application and underwriting process, and refinance fees will apply. They do not require an appraisal and loan to value (LTV) restrictions do NOT apply.
The initial announcement scheduled Obama’s refinance program to be rolled out in phases. HARP 2.0 is a big undertaking. Not only do lender’s have to adjust their guidelines and train their underwriters, but loan origination and loan delivery systems had to be updated too.
The biggest change has to be made with Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting engine, Desktop Underwriter (DU). The most recent version of the software used by nearly every mortgage lender in the industry, contains rules and guidelines based on he prior version of HARP which restricted loan to value to 125%.
Fannie Mae finally announced an official DU rollout date last week of March 17th, 2012. Until DU is updated HARP lenders will not be able to deliver HARP 2.0 to Fannie Mae.
In addition to Fannie and Freddie getting the logistics ironed out, many mortgage lenders also need to decide if they were going to offer HARP refinances and what, if any, underwriting overlays they would place on them.
I am happy to report that several of my lenders are going to offer the Home Affordable Refinance Program with little to no underwriting overlays. That is huge! The original version of HARP was limited mainly to mortgage servicers and was not available to smaller, regional mortgage lenders.
Home-owners were forced to go through their big 4 bank for a HARP refinance. They had to deal with the horrible customer service and 120 day turn-times. They had no other choice.
Those days are OVER.
Instead of waiting 120 days to close, mortgage lenders like myself will be able to close HARP loans less than 30 days or even faster in many cases. That means you get your savings faster and with a whole lot less headache. That is good news for everybody.
What Are Your Next Steps?
Just because Desktop Underwriter will not be updated until March 17th, doesn’t mean you should wait to find out if you are eligible. HARP demand is going to be huge, get your ducks in a row early so you can take advantage of the savings as earlier as possible. How do you get started?
- HARP Eligibility Loan Search – This is your first step. Determine if Fannie or Freddie owns your loan. If they don’t then you are not eligible. Doesn’t mean there’s not a loan program for you, FHA and VA also have refinance programs for underwater home-owners. Click HERE to Search Your Loan
- Make Sure You Stay Current on Your Mortgage – This one is pretty simple, if you have late payments in the past year then no HARP 2.0 Refinance for you.
- Gather Your Documents – HARP is a reduced documentation program, but there are still some docs we’ll need for underwriting; most recent pay-stub, copy of your mortgage statement, identification, etc
- Complete My Contact Form – We’ll give you a free 10 minute consultation, double check HARP eligibility and get you queued up for underwriting delivery.
If you’re one of the many underwater home-owners across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee or South Carolina we can help then give us a call.
We’ve been on top of HARP 2.0 since inception. We’ve made sure we lined up the right lenders and have trained our whole team on the guidelines. With that mix of training and lender connections we will be able to ensure our clients get the best mix of interest rate, closing costs and customer service ANYWHERE!
GET a HARP Refinance Quote Here!
Underwater homeowner’s across Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina are seeing huge savings with a HARP 2.0 refinance. What are YOU waiting for?
Find Out How Much HARP 2.0 Can Save You!
The Home Affordable Refinance Program will not be around forever.
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8 Responses to HARP 2.0 | DU Refinance Plus – News, Notes & Updates (Jan. 2012)
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Question….. what about homeowers that have PMI will HARP help them as well? They are being told not until March because of the PMI!
That will be lender specific. Technically, HARP allows for the transfer of the MI cert. However, a large number of MI companies have gone out of business so in some cases it will be difficult.
We WILL have the capacity to transfer MI Certs for certain companies.
I applied with my lender for a HARP II refinance and they told me that b/c I was so much underwater, my refinance rate could only go down by 1 percentage point. Is this correct? I have excellent credit and have good income. Please let me know. They also failed to tell me that HARP II does not start until March 17, 2012.
If you are over 125% LTV you need HARP 2.0. The industry is waiting for Fannie and Freddie to update their automated underwriting engines to allow for the higher LTV. They are also updating the appraisal requirements and adding automated valuation too.
Freddie sent a release yesterday stating March 11th for them.
Fannie is scheduled for March 17th.
you didn't answer the question about the 1% limit of an interest rate reduction if you are really underwater. That is my situation too but I hope that is not true….
Will Fannie Mae allow loans that were originated in 2010 to refinance under the Du refi plus
At Sherry-
I’m with you. My husband and I have excellent credit scores. Never missed a payment-and yet we they will only drop us 1%!
we are just over 125% LTV. Our CLTV is higher – we have about 1/3 of our equity loan in use and just trying to protect that extra amount. No plans to use it. But we are good customers and due to not having very many comps in our area and also alot of foreclosures around -WE are underwater. We have lost $171,000 from our estimated high value in 2005. Our jobs are stable-but our future looks bleak with the loss on our investment. We just want to get the same interest rate anybody else would get. I Know their are riskier homeowners in unstable jobs getting alot better rates than we would. So frustrating.
To answer the rate questions, it depends on your scenario. The going rates are low mid 4's without points for good credit borrowers. You will pay a bit more then a traditional refinance due to the added risk.
One thing affecting rates is the payroll tax extension extended in Dec. 2011. To pay for that "tax cut" certain politicians demanded delivery fees added to all Fannie and Freddie mortgages. That has added ~.25 to rate on conventional mortgages, both purchase and HARP Refinance.
The degree of which you are underwater doesn't affect rates with most lenders.
Just so you know, I am also underwater on my home. I sympathize