The HARP Program

If you’ve been unable to refinance because of declining home value, a bankruptcy, or even a foreclosure, you may be eligible to refinance through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The Federal Housing Finance Authority created the HARP program to help homeowners save with historically low mortgage rates.

Now extended through 2018, The Federal Housing Finance Authority created the HARP program to help responsible homeowners save money with historically low mortgage rates. You may qualify and don’t even know it! Find out what these HARP changes mean for you and, more importantly, how much you could save on your mortgage payments. Contact us today to discuss your options.

HARP was originally established in 2009 as a way for homeowners who owed more on their homes than they were worth to refinance at lower interest rates. HARP 1.0 was developed in hopes of helping millions of homeowners. Unfortunately, the original HARP program fell short. As a result, the program was reworked to ease its many restrictions. With the new HARP 2.0 program, debt to income ratios have been expanded, loan to value ratio requirements have been lifted, appraisals are not required for most HARP refinances, homeowner’s can refinance if they had a prior bankruptcy or foreclosure, or have a privately insured mortgage (loan with PMI) that is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The bottom line is that if you have a mortgage that is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and something has prevented you from refinancing in the past, if you have been able to make your payments, you more than likely can refinance now.

The original HARP program required that a homeowner’s mortgage be serviced by one of only a small and select list of banks. HARP 2.0 has lifted this restriction but many lenders still place their own restriction on HARP loans which is why it is extremely important to talk to a local knowledgeable mortgage professional and not to your current mortgage servicer’s call center. Contact us today to discuss your options.