The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released details of a newly revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program(HARP) today, with the main feature being a lack of a loan-to-value (LTV) limit.
Previously, the max LTV accepted under the program was 125 percent, meaning those in need of the most help were essentially out of luck.
With this change, even the deepest underwater borrower will be able to refinance their mortgage to take advantage of today’s record low mortgage rates. Of course, there are some limitations.
– The mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
– The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
– The mortgage cannot have been refinanced under HARP previously unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP from March-May, 2009.
– The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than 80%.
– The borrower must be current on the mortgage at the time of the refinance, with no late payment in the past six months and no more than one late payment in the past 12 months.
