PHOENIX ARIZONA HARP LENDER
Phoenix Arizona HARP Lender
As your Arizona HARP Mortgage Lender I am committed to keeping you posted on the latest Arizona mortgage developments. I received some official news on the eagerly anticipated new HARP 2 guidelines and wanted to share! As a reminder, this is a program that helps Arizona homeowners that have less than 20% equity in their homes refinance and take advantage of today’s low Arizona mortgage rates. Arizona homeowners and their mortgage must qualify (see below for more). Here is a brief rundown of what the new and improved HARP 2 will look like – some KEY guidelines. Most importantly, look at #2. The 125% loan to value limit removal is not effective until March 2012 ( a specific date in March has not been issued yet ). It looks like March 17th is going to be the date for Phoenix eligible homeowners.
1. No maximum Loan to Value for fixed rate mortgages with terms up to 30 years (125% cap will be removed)
2. New Loan to Value guidelines (item #1) will be effective starting 3/2012 (in approx 100 days)
3. HARP 2 is now good through December 13, 2013 (all HARP/HARP 2 loans must close by this date)
4. Ability to use property valuation models in lieu of an appraisal (waiting for further clarification on this one)
The official notice contained some information that I need clarification on relative to not holding HARP borrowers accountable to the same bankruptcy guidelines as a non HARP borrower. Before I say that HARP borrowers are not held to typical bankruptcy seasoning requirements I need to investigate this further. I do not want to mislead anyone but wanted to mention it as it was an interesting point.
To see if you are eligible for a HARP refinance please look up your address on the following two links:
DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER – WHY WILL HARP 2 WORK…”BETTER” FOR ARIZONA HOMEOWNERS?
Besides the removal of the 125% LTV limit, HARP 2 should be more effective due to the fact that HARP 2 has completely revamped what are called Reps and Warrants (officially – “representations and warranties”). Reps and Warrants are basically liability guidelines that ALL retail lenders have to follow when they sell a loan to Fannie, Freddie, FHA etc… If these Reps and Warrants are violated, the originating retail lender is forced to buy the loan back. This is not at all what any mortgage lender is in the business to do (from PrimeLending to the big 3).
In order to make it so more retail lenders are willing to originate HARP 2 loans, the Reps and Warrants associated with HARP 2 loans have been relaxed significantly. Here is an excerpt straight from the HARP 2 release from Fannie (see attached for more on this):
The lender is relieved of the standard underwriting representations and warranties (eligibility, credit history, liabilities, income and asset assessment) with respect to the new mortgage loan if the lender meets all of the following requirements: All data in the loan casefile is complete, accurate, and not fraudulent. The lender follows the instructions in the DU Underwriting Findings Report regarding income, employment, asset, and fieldwork documentation. The lender complies with all other requirements documented in the Selling.
For the best HARP mortgage rates available, please call me today so I can help you learn more about how this program can help you.
Previous article on HARP - PHOENIX HARP GUIDELINES
Jeremy