Keystone Home Finance

View Original

Freddie Mac HARP Mortgage Refinance Program in Pennsylvania

The Home Affordable Refinance Program, commonly known as HARP is available for Freddie Mac Mortgages.

When the HARP 2.0 program rolled out at the end of 2011, it offered holders of Conventional Mortgages the opportunity to refinance their homes to take advantage of low interest rates even if the value of their home has dropped.  Conventional mortgages are made up of mortgages that are backed either by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. 

Remember: Even if you make your mortgage payments to a particular bank or mortgage lender, if you have a Conventional Mortgage, you probably have a mortgage that is owned or back by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The Freddie Mac portion of HARP is known as Open Access.  The Open Access Program has the same benefits as the Fannie Mae HARP (DU Refi Plus) program and also allows homeowners the benefit of refinancing their home even if the value of the home has fallen.  

 

         Overview of the HARP Open Access Program… 

  1. Only for mortgages currently owned or backed by Freddie Mac. We can check this for you.

  2. No deliquent mortgage payments in the last 6 months and only a
    total of one 30 day late payment is allowed in the last 12 months

  3.  No cash out or paying off other debts allowed with this program

  4.  No maximum LTV for new Fixed Rate Mortgages (based on credit score)

  5.  First time HARP users only, if you closed a mortgage under previous
    HARP editions, you can not apply for this new edition

  6.  Current home does not need to be a primary residence as long as the home was first purchased as a primary residence

  7.  Any 2nd mortgages on property will have to be subordinated by the current 2nd mortgage holder, this depends on the 2nd mortgage holder agreeing to this

  8.  If the current mortgage has monthly Mortgage Insurance, the new mortgage must also have the same level of Mortgage Insurance