Changes were announced today in the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) that allow more borrowers to refinance their mortgages. In yesterday's post, we talked about unprecedented interest rates making refinancing very attractive. For those homeowners with negative equity, loan modifications have been possible, but not without hurdles.
Key changes to HARP include:
- reducing fees associated with refinancing to encourage homeowner to shorten the term of their mortgage
- eliminating new appraisals with the refinance
- removing the current ceiling of 125% loan to value ratio; in other words, it does not matter how "underwater" the homeowners are
HARP is designed to help those homeowners who are current in their mortgage payments and have negative equity through no fault of their own. Thankfully, we in the greater Indy area never had the dramatic bubble and burst experienced by other areas of the country. That doesn't mean, however, that there aren't people who could benefit from this program here. Call me if you need a referral for a highly competent and skilled lender who can discuss the numerous qualification criteria for HARP or other refinancing programs.
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