FHFA extends refinance program (for "underwater" mortgages)

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Source: Washington Business Journal

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, until June 20, 2011.

The refinance program is administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was scheduled to expire June 10, 2010.

“FHFA has reviewed the current market situation and the state of mortgage insurance availability and has determined that the market conditions that necessitated the actions taken last year have not materially changed,” said FHFA director Ed DeMarco in a statement.

HARP was implemented in 2009 and designed to encourage banks to consider new terms for struggling homeowners. In 2009, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased or guaranteed about 191,000 HARP refinanced mortgages.

In order to extend the program’s reach, FHFHA in October expanded the program to many homeowners whose mortgage exceeded the value of their home by including loans with loan-to-value ratios as high as 125 percent.


Read more: http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/03/01/daily15.html

[Socal31]

1. I wish more homeowners knew about this program.

I have underwritten a few hundred, and they all put the borrower in a much better position.