The Home Affordable Refinance Program or HARP is a newer program started in 2009 that can help you refinance if a traditional refinance hasn’t worked for you because your home’s value has declined. This is not a program for anyone who has not been paying their mortgage payments. This is a program for people who have been responsible with their mortgage payments and have not missed a payment in the last 12 months. Now because of the decline of home prices have been stuck and not able to take advantage of saving money on their mortgage with a refinance. Rates are at historic lows, so the HARP program has been created so more people to take advantage of them and lower their monthly payments.

 

Coastline Mortgage Consultants has access to the HARP program and we want to help you take advantage of it. We have closed many Wilmington HARP refinances since our office is located here. However we have also done many Raleigh HARP refinances as well since a lot of our clients also come from the Raleigh area. That doesn’t mean if you live in other cities in the state that we can’t do a North Carolina HARP in whatever city you may own a home in.

 

Even though this program has been around since 2009 it’s only recently grown in popularity. If you’ve never heard of it and wonder what it takes to qualify for it, here are some of the basics of the HARP program.

To be eligible for the Home Affordable Refinance Program you will need:

  • Your mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
  • Your mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
  • If you’ve already refinanced with a HARP you cannot use it again unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP from March-May, 2009.
  • You must be current on your mortgage at the time of the refinance, with a good payment history in the past 12 months.

 

On October 24, 2011, the Home Affordable Refinance Program has been updated to make it easier for more people to qualify for. The new updated guidelines are:

  • The program has been extended until December 31, 2013.
  • The maximum Loan to Value (LTV) cap has been removed if you are looking to refinance in to a fixed rate mortgage.
  • However for if you are looking to refinance in to an adjustable rate mortgage the maximum LTV is set at 105%.
  • The appraisal process has been streamlined; in cases where an automated value can be determined an appraisal would not be required.

 

To get a more details about HARP, we've included a detailed breakdown created by Fannie Mae, you can see the HARP details page. If you have any questions on this program please contact one of our experts. To see if you qualify for the HARP program please click here.