Making Home Affordable Plan
On March 4, 2009, the Obama Administration released detailed guidelines for homeowners to help them determine if they qualify for the Administration’s new Making Home Affordable plan. This is a follow up to the Administration’s announcement on February 18 outlining their plan to stem the current tide of foreclosures and stabilize the nation’s housing markets.
The plan has two primary goals:
1.To help homeowners in existing Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans that are current on their mortgage payments to refinance and take advantage of today’s lower interest rates. Many of these homeowners are unable to refinance because of lost appreciation in their homes due to the continuing decline in home prices. These homeowners still have equity in their home, just not the necessary 20% to get a refinance. Under the Administration’s plan, Fannie and Freddie will be allowed to refinance qualified homeowners up to a 105 percent loan-to-value of the current value of the home.
2. To help homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure. The Administration is offering loan servicers and investors government assistance to help offset the cost of modifying qualified homeowners into affordable mortgages that will allow them to keep their homes. This may be done by reducing the mortgage interest rate, extending the term of the loan, principal forbearance, and/or principal cramdown. This program is voluntary and the servicers must agree to contracts with the Treasury to participate.
The following links are a GREAT resource for those interested in finding out if they would qualify or benefit from either one of the above-mentioned programs.
Click HERE to find out if you qualify for the Making Home Affordable Refinance
Click HERE to find out if you qualify for the Home Affordable Modification
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
Based on the questionnaire on http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/refinance_eligibility.html I am eligible for refinancing, however Wells Fargo has rejected my request to refinance; they said they did so because I am paying PMI. They said they have added additional eligibility requirements (on top of government requirements) which does not make sense at all because apparently this program was designed for those people who cannot refinance because they do not have 20 % (or more) equity in their homes. By creating conditions like this effectively Wells Fargo has eliminated millions of people from the program which originally were supposed to benefit from it. The funny thing is that afterwards someone from Wells Fargo contacted me and offered “regular” refinancing, which of course means paying several thousand dollars as closing costs! Unfortunately Wells Fargo has refused to make these additional requirements publicly known (their related web site does not mention anything regarding this at all; see https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/account/stabilityplan)
I have a few questions and appreciate if someone could answer:
1- Is Wells Fargo allowed to add additional eligibility criteria such as this one?
2- Is there any where in the Government (related to this program) that I can complain about this?
Is this exclusively available to only Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac existing loans?