Obama Administration New Help for Underwater Homeowners

The Obama administration has recently announced an expansion of the HARP program that helps underwater homeowners refinance.  The final rules of the program will be announced on November 15, 2011 but it appears that the updates to the program will make it easier for Scottsdale home owners to qualify. This program has been extremely frustrating for those in Arizona who were attempting to qualify. Arizona has a high percentage of homeowners underwater on their mortgages and the previous rules regarding the debt ratio made it very difficult to qualify. Finally, something has come that will help the people that have made their payments on-time and stayed current.  Below is a summary of the program and who is eligible.

Summary of Eligibility:

1)   It’s a Fannie or Freddie backed home loan

2)   The loan closed 5/31/2009 or earlier

3)   Loan-to-Value should not matter (no appraisal)*

4)   Credit History should not matter*

5)   Must have no mortgage-lates in the past 6 months

This is a great change that will help many homeowners in Arizona. This should reduce the number of Scottsdale foreclosures. If you or someone you know might benefit please forward a link to this article.