When a HARP Refinance Can Help
The Obama administration has done a lot of things to try to improve the economy and stop the rash of foreclosures occurring in the real estate market. As part of this initiative, many programs were put into place. One of these programs is the HARP refinance program.
The HARP program is a refinance option that can make your payments much lower by taking advantage of the new low interest rates. However, the program is not available for everyone. There are certain situations in which HARP loans can help you.
The Obama refinancing plan was developed to help home owners whose homes had dropped in value. When your home is not worth what you owe on it, you cannot qualify for a regular refinancing option. Obama supported this plan because it rewards responsible home owners. It also reduces payments, making it more likely that good payment histories can continue and not end in foreclosure.
In order for you to take advantage of HARP refinancing program, you will need to have a good payment history for twelve months. This means that you cannot have any payments that were thirty days or more late in the last six months, and only one such late payment within the previous twelve month period. If this does not apply to you, you should look into other programs put in place by the Obama administration to try to avoid foreclosure.
Another piece of the puzzle is that your home loans must be owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Your loans are likely serviced by another company, but the owner of the loans should be one of these two entities. If you are not sure about who owns your loans, check with the Making Home Affordable government website for details about how to find out.
Finally, in order for you to be able to take advantage of Obama mortgage reduction program you will need to be working with a loan servicer that offers this option. Not all of them offer these programs, so it is important to ask. If your loan servicer does not work with these programs, you may still be able to take advantage of a HARP loan.
In these cases where you are eligible in all other ways for a HARP loan, you can sometimes find companies that work with these programs and can help you even though your loan servicer cannot. These companies can cut through the red tape and help you understand your options through the HARP loans. If you think you might qualify for a Home Affordable Refinance Program, you should contact our office at HARP Alliance. We can help you make sense of the regulations surrounding these loans and help you apply for them so that you can lower your payments and save your home.