Home Affordable Refinance Plan Harp

Harp stands for the home affordable refinance program.

Home affordable refinance plan harp. A home affordable refinance will help borrowers refinance their first mortgage even if the balance owed is more than the home value. Harp began on april 1 2009 and expired on december 31 2018. Lenders are no longer accepting applications for harp. The home affordable refinance program harp ended on december 31 2018.

Frequently asked questions about the home affordable refinance program harp what is harp. Harp refinance program enhancements you can be underwater and owe more than 100 percent of the current value of your home. With a shorter term mortgage you could build equity even faster. As a response to the housing crisis the federal government created the home affordable refinance program harp for short.

The home affordable refinance program was designed for a very specific borrower from the start. Histor y of harp h arp was established in 2009 to as sist homeowners unable to refinance their loans due to a decline in their home value. Through harp you could switch to a fixed rate mortgage that won t change over time. Harp provides eligible homeowners.

The existing mortgage must have been sold to fannie mae or freddie mac on or before may 31 2009. With harp a homeowner with a mortgage owned by fannie mae or freddie mac may be able to refinance into a more affordable mortgage. Many homeowners found themselves in this situation after housing prices dropped in 2008. Harp is unique in that it is the only refinance program that enables borrowers who owe more than their home is worth to take advantage of low interest rates and other refinancing benefits.

It was started in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to help underwater borrowers refinance their homes. The main conditions for the program are that the mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by freddie mac or fannie mae can t be a non conforming loan and sold to borrowers before may 31 2009 this borrower was the most seriously hurt by the financial crisis that gripped the country during the mid. A mortgage refinancing program offered by the federal housing finance agency to homeowners who own homes that are worth less than the outstanding balance. The home affordable refinance program harp is a federal program of the united states set up by the federal housing finance agency in march 2009 to help underwater and near underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages unlike the home affordable modification program hamp which assists homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure this program benefits homeowners whose mortgage payments.

It was introduced by the federal housing finance agency fhfa and the department of the treasury in early 2009 as part of the making home affordable tm program. Home affordable refinance program harp.