WHAT IS HARP MORTGAGE?

HARP HELP

With home interest rates reaching the lowest levels in our lifetime, homeowners are itching to take full advantage of them in order to save hundreds a month on their mortgage payments and thousands in interest payments over the life of their home loan.  Unfortunately though, the unfolding of the “Great Recession” has  destroyed millions of people’s equity.  So much equity has been eliminated that in many homeowners find themselves “upside-down” or “underwater”.  Thus, it has been impossible for these millions of current homeowners to take advantage of this window of opportunity to save tremendously.  Introducing the HARP Mortgage.  

HARP stands for “The Home Affordable Refinance Program”.  HARP Mortgage is a lending program designed to assist homeowners who have a home loan owned or guaranteed by one of the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s) known as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.   Folks will be able to refinance their mortgages – even if they owe more than the home’s current value.   The current FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco recently stated:  “We know that there are many homeowners who are eligible to refinance under HARP Mortgage and those are the borrowers we want to reach.”

Ed DeMarco

The major expectation for HARP Mortgage is that refinancing will put responsible homeowners who have kept up their payment history in a stronger position by reducing their monthly mortgage payments, reducing their interest rate, reducing the amortization period, or moving them from a more risky loan structure (such as an interest-only mortgage or a short-term ARM) to a more stable product (such as a fixed-rate mortgage).

Fannie Mae, One of the GSE’s, has already “gone on the record” stating that 2 of their main goals with the HARP Mortgage Plan are:

i) To allow unlimited Loan-to-value ratios on the new loans and additional underwriting flexibilities to ensure borrower approval

ii) To provide a solution for borrowers with LTVs above 80% who currently may not be able to refinance because of mortgage insurance (MI) coverage requirements.

HARP IS HERE

Hopefully, this “ What is HARP Mortgage “ article has been helpful.  Make sure you get all of your questions answered by speaking with a qualified mortgage industry professional and see if it makes sense for you to take advantage of this program.

 FOR MORE RESOURCES & INFORMATION CONTACT STEVE MANCILLA

CERTIFIED  MORTGAGE PLANNER and HARP SPECIALIST

619-453-0954 Tel.  / www.HARP.REOFCA.com  /  Steve@REofCA.com