Colorado Real Estate and banking

However, for those homeowners eligible for an FHA Streamline Refinance Loan the savings just got a lot better and one of the biggest hurdles to qualify for an FHA Streamline Refi will be removed. 
Effective June 11, 2012, the FHA introduces a new mortgage insurance premium schedule for long-time, FHA-backed homeowners.

If you have a current FHA mortgage that was endorsed by the FHA prior to June 1, 2009, you are eligible for the FHA's "grandfathered" mortgage insurance premiums. The new premiums are dramatically lower than the premiums paid by today's new FHA
customers.

For eligible homeowners, the new FHA MIP schedule is as follows:

• All loans : 0.01% upfront mortgage insurance premium.
• All loans (except 15-year fixed with LTV of 78% or less) : 0.55% annual mortgage insurance premium.
• 15-year fixed with LTV of 78% or less : No annual mortgage insurance premium.

For an example of the new FHA mortgage insurance premiums would work, Let's say you are a homeowner in Denver, Colorado with a $400,000 mortgage from 2008.   You may be able to refinance under the new FHA Streamline Refinance program, paying just $40 in upfront MIP and $183 per month in annual MIP.

This is a huge savings over the FHA's current MIP schedule which would
require $7,000 to be paid in upfront MIP and $417 per month in annual MIP.

With the grandfathered FHA Streamline Refinance schedule, there are no other fees, no other adjustments, and the terms are available to all FHA-backed homeowners whose mortgages were endorsed prior to June 1, 2009.

Who is eligible for an FHA Streamline refinance Loan?

First of all, you have to have an FHA loan now!  If not skip to the HARP Loan section below.

In early 2011, while the most of the banks were making it harder to get approved for a mortgage loan, the FHA was making it easier.

With an important guideline update, the FHA abolished verification for
practically everything on an FHA Streamline Refinance mortgage application. Now, as written in the FHA's official mortgage guidelines, the mortgage approval process for an FHA Streamline Refinance says :

• Employment verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance.
• Income verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance.
• Credit score verification is not required with an FHA Streamline Refinance.
• And, as mentioned earlier, there's no need for a home appraisal, either.

Overall that means that you can be (1) out-of-work, (2) without income, (3) with a terrible credit rating and (4) having lost all of your home equity and still be approved for the FHA Streamline Refinance program.

HARP Refinance Loans

First of all, your loan has to be serviced or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or another participating lender and servicer who has been strongly encouraged by the government to participate.  Getting a HARP Refinance Loan under the new HARP 2.0 program can be difficult.  Even if your lender is participating in the program, many lenders are overwhelmed with requests and it's important that the loan company you choose to help you with this is able to handle the task.

Some of the HARP Loan program highlights are:

• Designed to help borrowers who are significantly "underwater".
• Removes the 125% cap on home loan to market value ratio.
• Borrowers must be current with no more than one missed payment in the last 12 months.
• Borrowers cannot have ANY missed payments in the last six months.
• Also, if borrowers have already used HARP 1.0, they are ineligible for HARP 2.0.
• Finally, lender participation is voluntary (except for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan servicers).

So, which new government refinance program is right for your mortgage?  It primarily depends on what type of mortgage guarantor or servicer you currently have.  But at least there are currently good loan refinance programs out there that will be able to help millions of homeowners.