June 2012 RSS Feed

FHA has completely eliminated the recent underwriting changes that they announced on February 28th regarding the need to pay any open collection or charge offs greater than $1,000.  This is HUGE news!!!  Some estimates have come out that up to 20% of loans that were approved last year would NOT have been approved this year, and the industry has been pummeling FHA every since the original announcement. 

On Friday, the word started to sneak out about this change, and the Mortgagee Letter was formally issued yesterday.  IT IS OFFICIAL!!! 

The original rule when announced was supposed to go into effect on April 1, 2012.  FHA then backed off in early April, and postponed the start date to July 1, 2012.  And now, they have done away with it completely.

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SUPER LOW RATES! If you know of anyone in a VA loan that is over a 4% rate please pass my email address along (kmaples@primelending.com) and have them contact me. I can possibly help them save more money or pay off their mortgage sooner. Also if you know of any in a FHA loan that received the loan before May 2009 HUD lowered the MI super low for a streamline refinance so now a refinance is beneficial. Don’t forget if you got a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan prior to May 2009 you may be eligible for the HAPR refinance that allows you to refinance with negative equity unlimited. SAVE MONEY WHILE RATES ARE SUPER LOW!

HARP 2.0

There are many changes to the old HARP Program to the new HARP 2.0 (Homeowner Affordable Refinance Program). There is no loan to value limits. You can refinance no matter how far your home has fallen in value. The loan to value limits before were 125%. Some cases you may not need an appraisal and the underwriting is simple compared to standard refinances. The program was extended until December 31, 2013.