[Update: See this page for the most updated info on the HARP 2.0 guidelines or contact us in the sidebar for guidance on your specific situation]
Here are the links to the recently released HARP 2.0 guidelines.
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2011/sel1112.pdf
http://www.freddiemac.com/sell/guide/bulletins/pdf/bll1122.pdf
In short, here are the changes these guidelines describe:
– Starting December 1, 2011 authorized lenders were able to begin the loan application process for borrowers who have Fannie/Freddie mortgages with a current loan to value greater than 125%. HOWEVER those HARP 2.0 loans cannot be approved until March 2012 at the soonest because the Fannie/Freddie approval software will not be updated until then. So the soonest a HARP 2.0 loan with an LTV of more than 125% could actually close is probably April of 2012.
– For Freddie Mac loans, if the first mortgage is less than 80% of the value the home the first and second mortgage combined cannot be more than 105% of the current value of the home. (There will probably be price breaks for these loans though).
– There is apparently no change to the eligibility dates so people who got their current Fannie/Freddie loan after May of 2009 appear to not be eligible for HARP 2.0 still.
– There is no mention of changes to the mortgage insurance rules. The official guidelines of HARP 1.0 allowed for MI to transfer already but we do not know of any authorized lenders or MI companies that allowed that. We will have to wait and see if there is more incentive for lenders and MI companies to allow it with the new program.
The other questions yet to be answered over the coming months are:
1. How many authorized lenders will participate in the HARP 2.0 program? There are no requirements for lenders to participate.
2. What will the pricing be for these high LTV HARP 2.0 loan? (Probably significantly worse than loans with lower LTV’s)
So while these guidelines shed some light on the new program there are a lot of questions still to be answered. Stay tuned.
May 18th, 2012 at 7:59 am
I currently have a Hybrid loan (ARM) that was recommended to us by our Financial planner. This was a predatory loan. At the time of this loan we were told that this loan was a fixed rate mortgage and that was not true. It was fixed for ten years and than the mortgage converts to an ARM for the remaining 20 years. The terms of this loan was not clear or easily found in the mortgage papers. Our financial planner said that we would save about 400.00/mo that we should use to build up our retirement savings. They also recommended investing in their company, which we did. Before transferring to my employers based 401K we never seen any growth at all. When the market crashed in 2008-09 we lost nearly all of it. We’ve been taken advantage of, but I know it’s our fault, as well, for believing everything we were told. Some how I thought nobody would deliberately ruin a family for profit. Well we learned the hard way.
May 30th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
When will the government start helping out homeowners who are not Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, but with some other mortgage company? All I ever see is help for everyone else, but not for those of use not lucky enough to have a Freddie or Fannie mortgage. I’m underwater and yet I keep making my outrageous payments at the expense of other bills. When do I get help?