Hope for Help in HARP 2.0

I suppose I’m a little like Linus sitting in the pumpkin patch on Halloween nioght awaiting the coming of The Great Pumpkin; however, I still have hope that at least one Federal program might end up doing some good for the housing industry – perhaps HARP 2.0.



The original Home Affordable Refinance Program, aka. HARP 1 – was a failure mainly because it failed to recognize the severity of the problem and had too many built in restrictions that limited the number of underwater homeowners who could qualify. HARP 2.0 lowered or removed those bars and should end up helping more homeowners. At least that’s the goal.


The major idea is to let homeowners who’s home values have sunk below what they owe on their old mortgages refinance with new loans at lower rates, even if the home wouldn’t appraise at the loan value in today’s market. In fact, the house won’t even ned to be re-appraised. The keys to the program are demonstrating the ability to continue to pay the new mortgage. You’ll note the “continue to pay” phrase. HARP 2.0 is aimed at people who have kept their current mortgages current, not those who are behind and headed for foreclosure. HARP 2.0 hopes to prevent foreclosures by providing some payment relief to those who have struggled but kept up payments, so far.


One key component to HARP 2.0 is that the mortgage on your house must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which covers the majority of U.S. mortgages. Even if you send your money to another company called the ”mortgage servicer”, Fannie or Freddie may be in the background for your mortgage. To find out if your home qualifies, you can to go their Web sites – http://www.fanniemae.com/laonlookup/ or http://www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage/ and look up your address.


The program should be available now through most mortgage companies, so check with your preferred lender. If they aren’t supporting the program, check with a different lender.


So, maybe it’s not the Great Pumpkin after all; but, maybe it will help keep a few more homeowners who are struggling in this weak economy in their homes.