home affordable refinance program

• Question:-Can we be able to qualify for the Home Affordable Refinance Program?
  My wife and i are both in college, and we have a house that we are renting out in another state, we only make 1460 between ourselves each month, and we get 1485 for the renting of the house. Our mortgage payment is 1900. the loan is an interest only loan at 6.525% with 27 years left. Our loan is owned by Fannie Mae. Is there any reason that we wouldn't qualify for HARP?
  
  Answer:-So you're a couple people in college and you buy an expensive home on credit that you can't afford....
  
  As someone who's taken a large hit due to the home bubble, and is paying the taxes to subsidize the people who can't or won't take the hit themselves, I'm not too happy about it.
  
  You're still paying your bills though, so I give you respect for that.
  
  Anyway, to give you a serious answer... I bet you could qualify. And you should definitely do it as it will make your mortgage situation much better. And I'd rather you do that than default and cause even more problems for everybody else. The catch is that it may be considered an investment property, but I bet it can still be qualified.
• Question:-home affordable refinance program vs home affordable modification program?
  what is the difference between the two?
  
  Answer:-Q: I believe there was a material error in your recent article concerning President Obama's Making Home Affordable Program.
  
  First, eligibility for a HAMP loan does not depend on the loan being owned or serviced by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For loans that are so owned there are some separate additional programs under HAMP such as the ability to refinance underwater loans.
  
  Moreover, Fannie and Freddie are agents for Treasury to help Treasury administer the HAMP Program. But HAMP in large measure initially was designed to address non-conforming conventional loans, such as subprime loans. Second, the eligible loan amount is $729,750, not $417,000 as you wrote.
  
  A: Thank you for writing. The column in question did contain those errors (thanks for setting the record straight). But there’s more to the story, so let’s start at the top.
  
  President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program generally permits certain borrowers to work with their lenders to either obtain a loan modification or to refinance their loan. Effectively, there are two programs, which can make it confusing for homeowners.
  
  Making Home Affordable Loan Modification
  
  Of the 4 million homeowners that President Obama predicted would be eligible to have their mortgages modified, about one million homeowners have received temporary loan modifications, but just 116,000 (as of January, 2010) have received permanent modifications.
  
  If a borrower decides to go down the loan modification path, the borrower has to meet certain financial criteria, including whether the home is the borrower’s primary residence; whether the first mortgage on the home is equal to or less than $729,750; whether the homeowner is having trouble paying the mortgage; whether the current mortgage was obtained before January 1, 2009; and, whether the amount you pay on your first mortgage, including, principal, interest, taxes insurance and homeowner’s association dues, is more than 31 percent of your current gross income.
• Question:-Home Affordable Refinance Program late requirements?
  According to the guidelines the HARP program doesn't allow a 30 day late in the last 12 months. I had a 30 day late in August 2010. Just for clarification, does that mean I can qualify for the program next month (September)?
  
  Answer:-It is up to the bank. I am surprised they disqualified you on that alone.
• Question:-Refinance under Obama home affordable program?
  We just got a letter from our lender (Wells Fargo) letting us know that occupancy must remain the same as when loan was first originated, which was primary residence.We lived there for 3 years and after that we had to move there my father in law.We live somewhere else.We are paying for everything as he doesn't have sufficient income to support himself.Are we still eligible?
  
  Answer:-
• Question:-Is is true that if you have PMI that you cannot refinance under the Making Home Affordable program?
  i was told my Wells Fargo whom i currently have my home loan with and when i asked them about the program they said that i did not qualify because i have private mortgage insurance.
  
  Answer:-yes, it's true. you can still refinance, but not under the new higher loan to values w/out PMI program.
• Question:-Making Homes Affordable Refinance Program?
  I need some clarification on this program. I am not in any hardship, but I do have a Fannie Mae loan. Currently, I am in a 5-year ARM and it is up in May of 2010. My rate is 5.375% and it would go down to approximately 5.1%.
  
  Today I finally got somewhere with my lender CitiMortgage. We started to look at the refinance option and I would have $4,600 rolled over into my existing loan for closing costs and $460 out of my pocket for an application fee which includes an appraisal. My payment would be only be $12 lower per month, but my rate would be locked.
  
  For some reason the numbers don't add up to me. The closing costs and fees seem to high. Am I missing something with this program?
  
  Answer:-First, I can't tell if $4,600 is high without knowing how much your mortgage is worth. On a refinance there are still significant transaction costs.
  
  You need to get a "good faith estimate" from the lender. When you look at it, figure out which costs are "fixed" - i.e. charges by your state for recording a mortgage, costs for pre-paid taxes and insurance (should be low on a re-fi as most of that stuff is already escrowed hopefully).
  
  Then, figure out how much of the "cost" is fees and/or padding. A "fair" fee is somplace between 1% and 3% of the total amount of your loan. So if your loan is for $100,000 then the lender might charge you between 1,000 and 3,000 as a "fee" - sometimes they say their fee is lower or non-existent - but, trust me, they are getting their fee some way - they may be calling a discount point or service release premium or something - but they are getting it.
  
  Short story made long - pour over that settlement statement (also known as a HUD-1) and ask questions questions questions about ANYTHING you don't understand. If your lender balks at your questions, walk away.
  
  Second, I would shop around before settling on CitiMortgage - just because they are your current lender does not mean that they will necessarily give you the best rate.
  
  One thing to try is to go with an up-front lender like Amerisave that shows you guaranteed costs and fees breakdown long before the actual refinance.
  
  Finally, the Making Homes Affordable Refinance Program has nothing to do with closing costs. It is all about negotiating with lenders over principal and interest. There are lenders out there making a KILLING off the fees in these things. That is why you need to GRILL your loan officer.
• Question:-can I refinance with other bank under the Home Affordable program?
  
  
  Answer:-You can try, but remember no bank, including yours, is obligated to do anything for you. They only receive small incentives from the Feds under this program IF they decided to help you. I would contact as many banks as you can until you get someone willing to refi you!
• Question:-With the Making Home Affordable program,can I be denied loan modification if I already refinanced last year?
  Only about 8 months ago Bank of America solicited me and offered to refinance my mortgage with the government "Making Home Affordable" program. I was struggling and it made perfect sense so I did it. Now things have gotten even worse for me and I've been working with a credit councilor to try to avoid bankruptcy. He suggested that I call the HUD and ask them about a loan modification. I spoke quickly with someone today, not an actual HUD councilor, that said that because I already refinanced with the program, that I'm not eligible to do a loan modification through it. Is this true!? If so, what options do I have? Can I get a loan modification without the government program? The credit councilor said that my housing costs should be about 30% of my income, and right now mine are 61%. I have absolutely no savings so I have to assume that I'm qualified for a modification.
  
  Answer:-No, you are not qualified, if you are at 61% a modification would not help you. You are already at the program interest anyway, the bank can not lower it enough to make a difference.
• Question:-If I quit my job, would I qualify for Obama's Making Home Affordable mortgage refinancing program?
  If I quit my job, would I be able to qualify for the program since I would have less than 31% of my monthly income and be unable to pay for my monthly mortgage paymentgs? The program is unclear on what a hardship is, and if you have to be laid off or fired. What prevents people from just quitting their job to qualify for the program, then get another one once they are accepted and put on the plan?
  Note - This is what I'm trying to confirm if its true or not "Plus, if you quit your job, your lender isn't going to modify your loan because your hardship is your own fault"
  
  Answer:-That is not at all how the program works, you can not quit then qualify, nor could you quit, qualify for the trial (yes it's trial only, then if all goes well for 6-12 months it's permenant) but you couldn't get another job then suddenly be ok because your modification is based on your income, more income = less of a modification or no modification at all..
  In fact, there was a story published 2 days ago that the program is failing and often costing families MORE money. They struggle to meet the requirements, they'll pay on time by dipping into their savings only to find themselves out of their savings and out of their home because they failed to meet their trial period guidelines, in other words, they go broke before the trial period is up... So what's happening is instead of these families just letting their homes go, they're struggling to stay afloat only to be foreclosed on anyway after using up all their savings to pay their mortgage. So now not only are they out a home, but also out money they could've used to put towards a new place to live or debts or attempted to keep their homes w/o using that very strict program..
• Question:-How am I supposed to take advantage of the Making Home Affordable or HUD Under Water Refinance program?
  If my lender has opted "not to participate"... it doesn't make sense! No wonder why no one has taken advantage of these programs... they clearly state that the 1st lien holder must be in agreement to reduce the principal or lower the interest rate. Requirements to qualify, you can't be behind on any payments, your credit has to be good, and you have to be able to "afford" the new payments. All which apply to my situation... I just can't get a refinance because of the economy and housing decline.
  
  So yeaha right... like my credit union is going to take the hit just because I want to pay less??? Someone please tell me there's a way to do this... or the system is more f-ed up than I thought....
  
  Answer:-For the Making home afordable program You may be eligible to apply if you meet all of the following:
  
  You have a mortgage owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
  You do not have an FHA, VA or USDA loan.
  You are current on your mortgage payments and have not been more than 30 days late making a payment over the last year.
  Have a first mortgage not exceeding 125 percent of the current market value of your home.
  The refinance will improve the long-term affordability or stability of your mortgage.
  You have the ability to make the new payments.
  *Eligibility criteria are for guidance only. Contact your mortgage servicer to see if you qualify for HARP.
  The HARP program is offered by many servicers. Homeowners should check with their mortgage servicer (the company to which homeowners make their mortgage payments) to determine if they are participating in HARP. If their mortgage servicer is not participating, the homeowner may contact other lenders that participate in HARP to determine if they are eligible for a refinance.
  
  Other company can help just call aroung if you meet the requirements.