We are ready to roll-out the first phase of the HASP program. Your understanding of how the program works and how it affects you is very important. Please, take 15 minutes to read this article even if you believe that the HASP does not relate to you. If you own real estate or have a mortgage you should read this article as, in all likelihood, the HASP will affect you or someone you know and everyone NEEDS to know the facts.
Program Summary:
The HASP (Home Affordability and Stability Plan) also known as "The Making Home Affordable" plan is a far-reaching program created to assist home owners with their current mortgages in two ways:
- A Refinance Program
- A Loan Modification Program
It is important that you understand the difference between these two programs and how they will affect you. It is even more important to understand the facts surrounding these programs because there is so much hype, misinformation and intentionally misleading information circulating that, frankly, it will be difficult for you to know the difference.
Rest assured that I will ONLY present you with the facts as I learn them and I will do my best to not SELL you anything in the process. That said, please understand, I am in the business of making loans and I DO want to assist you, your family friends and associates if I can. Therefore, rely on me for the truth and please use my services if possible.
Loans That Qualify for the Refinance Program:
Under the refinance program guidelines your primary residence, vacation/2nd home and investment/rental homes will qualify EVEN IF YOU HAVE LITTLE OR NO EQUITY! This is very important feature as, through this program, you can refinance your loan even if you owe more than the home is worth and you will NOT BE REQUIRED TO HAVE PRIVATE MORTGAGE INSURANCE. This is a tremendous opportunity to obtain a permanent payment subsidy, every month, through lowering your monthly mortgage expense.
You must have excellent credit to qualify for this program, however, there is NO REQUIREMENT TO DOCUMENT YOUR INCOME OR YOUR ASSETS. While this might initially appear to be stupid, especially when coupled with the idea of having no equity requirements (after all, wasn’t it those no income, no asset liar loans that got us in the mess in the first place?) The fact of the matter is NO! Those "liar loans," more correctly defined as "Stated Income, Stated Asset" loans, were not the cause of our current financial troubles. (More on that another day in a another blog. Today, I just want to stick to the facts on the HASP.) The fact is that the HASP refinance program is a good program and it will reward those who have continued to make their mortgage payments on time by allowing them to refinance their loans at today’s low interest rates.
Additionally, there is NO APPRAISAL REQUIRED if your property’s value can be identified through one of our automated evaluation methods. Not all properties will work with these systems, however, as sometimes there is insufficient data to evaluate. Other times the data being evaluated are not accurate, not reflecting a room addition, other major remodel or upgrade for example. If the free automated evaluation process does not provide us with the value needed to effect your refinance then you will have the option of paying for a full appraisal.
The refinance program is available today. If you are interested in participating in this program then you should get started now because, rest assured, as an industry we are going to very quickly become overwhelmed with applications and getting to the head of the line now will be much better option than being at the end of the line later.
Loans That Qualify for the Loan Modification Program:
If you have suffered a financial hardship and perhaps you have subsequently fallen behind with your mortgage payments, Uncle Obama will try to rescue you too. He will do this buy lowering your payments until you can afford them! (This is the more controversial part of the HASP. That said, and regardless of your politics, this program will be available to help millions of homeowners as well.)
The loan modification program is available only for loans that secure your primary residence. These are the ONLY loans that will qualify for this program. (By the way, you may be eligible for both of these programs in some instances.) There are a series of steps that will be implemented to help make "your home affordable" starting with lowering your interest rate, then subsidizing your mortgage payments, extending the term of your loan for up to 40 years and in some instances forbearing or even forgiving a portion of the loan altogether. Oh well…. Again, I am not here to judge. I am just to help.
The loan modification portion of the HASP has not been rolled-out yet. I will, however, keep you informed as this portion of the program does become available.
What To Do Next:
1. Do Not Pay Anyone Any Money for Assisting You With These Programs – Every time there is money to be made, rest assured that someone is going to find a way to take advantage of people in an unethical way. As a result the schemes and scams involved with real estate and mortgages are flourishing. I am in no way suggesting that every company marketing itself as a "Loan Modification" expert is a fraud. I am, however, suggesting that you do not need to pay for assistance. If your time is short or you find the process too confusing, then certainly hiring a credible representative can be a viable alternative. There are legitimate companies out there. That said, I suggest that call your lender first or contact me even if you have tried this in that past and you had no success. Again, the HASP has just rolled-out and everything is very different now, different that it was just a few months or weeks ago. I will not charge you an upfront fee to refinance your loan under the HASP, with the exception of an appraisal fee if required. I will, however, make you do your fair share of the work needed.
2. Keep up with Changes and Developments – As the HASP is rolled-out in phases it will be important for you to keep up with these changes and the availability of these programs for you. Continue to check my blog for updates www.MoneyNation.org as well as reading the emails you receive from me. Again, I promise to only give you the facts and to keep things concise.
3. Determine if Your Loan Qualifies Now - You can do this very quickly and easily by going to my blog www.MoneyNation.org and then going to the section concerning the HASP. Here you will find links to the government web sites where you can immediately determine if your loan is currently eligible for the program.
- If it is not currently eligible, then skip to Step 4
- If it is eligible, then contact me immediately by email or phone for further instructions
o randy@ReBiz.com
o 949-224-4240
4. Prepare and Plan Now - Even if you loan is not currently eligible for the HASP today, this program is evolving and there are steps you should take now:
- You should know what your credit looks like, the operative word being "know" vs. “having a good idea”. I can assist you with this in two ways.
- First, is to provide you with a tri-merged credit report. This report will accomplish two things for you. a) You will see your credit exactly as a lender will see it including all three credit scores (6 scores if you are married). This cannot be accomplished through ANY of the "free" credit report services. This can only be accomplished through a tri-merged credit report provided to you by a lender. b) You will effectively "freeze" your credit profile for 90 days. There is No Charge for this service. You do, however, need to be serious about applying for this program and provide the required income and asset documentation as requested.
- Second, if you do want a more definitive review of your credit and assistance in protecting your identity then consider enrolling in the CreditKey Plus! instead. CreditKey Plus! is not part of the HASP, nor is it a requirement. You can find more information about CreditKey Plus! on my web site www.CreditKeyPlus.com
I trust you found this information informative and helpful. Please, pass it along to a friend, relative or associate. Remember, knowledge is not power, taking action with your knowledge is!
It’s a good life!
my 1st is 815k and a second of 235k would this proclude me from the hasp mod program?
Not under the current HASP guidelines. At the moment the 1st filter to qualifying for the HASP is that your loan must be owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Based on your 1st mortgage size of $815k it is highly unlikely that either agency owns your loan. You can, however, check this out by selecting the Fannie/Freddie links in the blog post. That said, I belive that this program will expand over the weeks/months ahead to include non-agency loans.
I wish you good luck getting the HASP loan. Once the HASP value is applied, which ends up at almost 1/3 less that a true appraisal, you may no longer qualify. And, if you have a 2nd, you must get the lender to subordinate the loan. Best of luck, again.
Dear Randy, If you would, please give the following message to Mr. Obama. I can’t seem to get through.
The lenders already received the stimulus (taxpayer) money, so the fair and equitable thing to do will be apply a 4.875% interest rate across the board without any fees to the homeowner. That will reduce everyones rate no matter what the situation, fair and equitable. – Please consider that option.
You are correct in that the HASP will not work in all situations. Also, if the home owner does not agree with the value the lender has provided, the homeowner does have the option to order a full appraisal. In fact, in many instances I have found that the lender/investor database does not have enough information to render a value and, therefore, a full appraisal is required. That said, you suggestion is a great one! It’s elegant and simple. Moreover, now that you have posted it to the Internet President Obama will have every opportunity to view it. Thank you to taking time to respond.
This is some really good advice for understanding the hasp program. It can be a tricky process and knowing the facts is essential.
Yes, HASP is a very small box to fit into. Meaning, there are many rules to follow. That said, if you fit the box HASP (or as it is also know as “Making Home Affordable or MHA) is provide thousands of homeowers with a much need reduction in their monthly expenses. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to assist your further if needed.
Nice and informative refinance, mortgage, marketing tips and information. These should be helpful for my users.
Gia