ARE YOU ELIGIBLE FOR THE OBAMA MORTGAGE PLAN?

Here is another helpful piece concerning the new Home Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP), courtesy of my preferred lender Aaron Gordon at Countrywide Home Loans.

There have been a lot of questions about the HASP that will allow for refinances up to 105% of property values and for note modifications down the 31% of income, if the investor on your loan is Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Answers and guidelines have been coming in daily. Some are very exciting.

For example, the plan doesn't care about occupancy. It applies to investment and vacation homes as well as owner-occupied homes. There are no minimum credit score requirements. There are no debt-to-income maximums. You just have to demonstrate an ability to repay.

Here is how you can determine if you are one of the seven to nine million homeowners eligible for relief under the plan:

STEP ONE: ARE YOU FANNIE OR FREDDIE BACKED?
To determine if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac is the investor on your loan, a requirement of the program, you can do any of the following:

1) CALL your servicing company, which is where you send your payment.

2) Or you can do this by INTERNET:

Does Fannie Mae Own Your Mortgage? Click or copy and paste the link below:
http://www.fanniemae.com/homepath/homeaffordable.jhtml

Does Freddie Mac Own Your Mortgage? Click or copy and paste the link below: http://www.freddiemac.com/corporate/buyown/english/avoiding_foreclosure/avoiding_foreclosure_form.html

3) Or you can do this by TELEPHONE:
FREDDIE MAC 1-800-FREDDIE (8am to 8pm EST) FANNIE MAE 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 8pm EST)

STEP TWO: DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY
If this home is your primary residence, go to www.FinancialStability.gov or click or copy and paste this link: http://www.financialstability.gov/makinghomeaffordable/refinance_eligibility.html

This site will walk you thru a step-by-step questionnaire that will help you determine eligibility and more.

STEP THREE:
If it says you are eligible for refinance, call your preferred loan officer. If you are eligible for Note Modification, call your bank.

NOTE: If this property is a vacation home or an investment home and the home's value is upside now in value by no more than 5%, call your preferred lender and ask if you are a candidate for HASP. It may take a few weeks before guidelines are known but you can start getting on interest lists now.


We at The Dulcie Crawford Group are continually on the lookout for information that can affect your individual real estate situation, and we would like to be your leading source of information. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.