A month or two ago I heard about the Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable” refinance program. At the time we had already tried to refinance our mortgage once in January or February, and had decided not to proceed because it would have meant that we would have to start paying PMI on our mortgage. With the addition of the PMI it would mean that even though our rate would drop to just above 5%, with PMI we would still only be saving about $20-30 a month. We just decided that it wasn’t worth it at the time.
Months later with the Home Affordable Refinance Program kicking in we decided to give refinancing our 6.5% fixed rate mortgage another shot. You can read the first parts of our refinance story here:
- Rates Are Low. Is It Time To Refinance? Our Refinance Story. (Our first try at refinancing)
- My Experience With The Making Home Affordable Refinance Program: Part 1. (Starting to refinance through HARP)
Want to catch up and find out more about the government program and find out if you’re eligible? We’ve covered it extensively on this site:
- Making Home Affordable Program: Do I Qualify?
- Making Home Affordable Refinance Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program Frequently Asked Questions
- Modification Program Updated To Cover Second Mortgages
- Making Home Affordable Refinance Program Eases Eligibility To Allow For Up To 125% Loan-To-Value Ratio
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Our Initial Steps To Refinance In Making Home Affordable Refinance Program
After figuring out that we were in fact eligible for the HARP program through the government’s website, we set off down the road of refinancing our mortgage. In part one of our story I talked about how we initially got the run around when we contacted Countrywide Home Mortgage. They would tell us that we weren’t eligible, and when we proved to them that we were they would give us the run around telling us that Countrywide (now Bank of America) wasn’t yet setup for the HARP program. They promised to call us when they were ready, but they never did in fact call us.
After being frustrated by the run around we were getting at Countrywide, I was able to find a new contact at the mortgage company through a mortgage broker that I had met on twitter. My new contact was much more helpful, and was able to confirm for us that we were eligible for the program, we would not have to pay PMI, and that we would drop more than a point off of our interest rate.
We were getting ready to refinance our mortgage at a 5.25% rate when disaster struck. My wife Maria had a medical issue that necessitated a short stay in the hospital and a surgery that hadn’t been planned. We ended up having to pay a couple thousand dollars in medical bills – cutting into our stockpile that we were going to use for closing costs on our refinance. We had to put off our refinance for at least another month or two until our hospital bills were paid. We just hoped that the rates wouldn’t skyrocket in the meantime.
Finally Completing Our Making Homes Affordable Refinance
We quickly paid off our medical bills within a month or so, and once again embarked down the path of refinancing our mortgage. In the meantime the rates had gone up a bit to around the 5.5% range. We had been hoping to drop more than a point off of our mortgage rate, and to payoff our closing costs through realized savings within 1 year of closing on our refinance. 5.5% wasn’t going to cut it, we wanted it to be at least 5.375%.
With the mortgage markets fluctuating up and down over the following weeks we finally just decided that if the rates hit a certain level (5.375%) we would put a lock on our rate, and do the refinance.
The rates finally hit the level that we wanted them to be at, and we locked in our rate for 45 days. After talking with our contact at Bank of America we settled on a closing date in mid to late August.
So How Did We Do? How Much Did Our Rate Drop, And How Much Did It Cost?
Last Friday we finally had our closing on our refinance with Bank of America. True to form BoA was once again late in sending the closing documents to the closing agent, and only sent us our HUD-1 Settlement Statement the morning of the closing. Because the documents were sent late to the closing agent she was an hour and a half late to our closing. Go figure, I should have known that this process that started with us getting the run around would end the same way.
In the end we improved our situation, saved $213 dollars on our total payment every month, and it didn’t cost us as much as Countrywide said it would even a few months ago ($7000 closing costs 8 months ago).
Our Old Loan
6.5% 30 Year Fixed Rate
No PMI (we put down just over 20%)
$1332/month payment
$300/month escrowed taxes and insurance
$1632/month total payment
Our New Loan
5.375% 30 Year Fixed Rate
No PMI (even though our home value dropped, It’s not required under HARP)
$1144/month payment
$275/month escrowed taxes and insurance (taxes dropped slightly with our home value, and escrow was re-calculated at a lower amount)
$1419/month total payment
$2590 closing costs
Savings
Our rate is 1.125% less
$213/month less on our payment
Closing costs paid back through monthly payment savings in 12.7 months.
Interest savings over life of the loan of about $20,000. (We’re planning on paying it off early anyway)
Feels Good To Finally Be Done
Our refinance process took a lot longer than we thought it would. We started looking into it all the way back at the beginning of the year, and finally finished it last week – almost 8 months later.
Was it worth it? We think so. The amount of money we’ll be saving just through the lower rate alone makes it worth it. Add to that the fact that this means we’ll have extra money to apply to paying off the mortgage early, and it means we’ll be saving even more interest!
So yes, it was worth it – even though it was a huge pain and took a lot longer than we thought it would.
Are You Refinancing Or Trying To Modify Your Loan?
Are you in the middle of doing a refinance or home loan modification – either through the Making Home Affordable Program, or otherwise? I’m curious how it’s going for you (or how it went?). Was it a smooth process, and did you get the rate you were looking for? Did you have to pay a lot of fees? Tell us about it in the comments!
Nice job! As you said, now you can take that $213/mo savings and put that towards the payment since you were used to that amount and get that thing knocked out earlier!
Hope Maria’s doing OK!
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Maria is doing much better – fully recovered from the surgery earlier this year. thanks!
When I contacted BofA and tried to refinance I was told I had to carry PMI since my home had dropped in value and we no longer had a 20% stake. Also, I was told I had to establish an escrow account under the new program. That made the recalculated payment with the escrow impounds only about $50 or so cheaper. That combined with the outrageous closing costs and I decided not to do it.
I think you may want to try again, I’m not sure the person you talked to knew what they were talking about as far as the PMI. Under the HARP program if you don’t currently have PMI you shouldn’t have to start paying it?
We Re-fi with a local credit union back in January of this year (2009) We watched the rate drop and drop and drop. Finally, we locked it in a 5.0% and the next day, the Fed changed the prime rate to Zero and the the Credit union offered 4.5% THAT Day. I asked the employee how much it would cost to change us to the lower rate, and she said $200. Done! We went from a 30 year fixed at 6.625% to a 20 Year fixed at 4.5% and our payment got $50 cheaper for monthly payments of $950. Yipee!
Here is my experience with Wells Fargo. We started the process on 5/26. I was told we qualified for several programs right up front. I faxed information that day and was told we were in a great position for the program. Our current mtg was approximately $278,000 with 6.125%. She called back a few days later and told me the rate was 5.5% and we would have to buy 2 1/4 pts for a 4.875 rate. I was told we would be saving approximately $200 a month…and no out of pocket expenses. She made it sound great even though I was so hesitant raising our mtg so much in order to “save”. Well jump forward to Monday night at our closing. As we are signing the papers our escrow balance gets brought up….he says we will get a check for the balance. Just before he is leaving he flips through some paperwork and tells us they actually applicate the $3000+ to our old loan payoff…yet nothing was changed on the new loan…same amount of money after paying down $3000 + 3 more principal pymts. Total closing costs were $16109.65–I was paying $9069 in points to save $74 a month. I called to tell the woman the numbers changed and we were canceling the contract. She tried to tell me we were crazy that we were “saving” $78K and we had the best loan. I told her I disagreed, this was a bait & switch. Making my home affordable cost $16000 and it would take 16 years to recoup the costs of the points alone. That night she had another person call my cell from a private number who was actually bullying me. Yelling at me, telling me he was a math wizard and I was wrong in my calculations that I was absolutely saving $78K. He then argued that my current loan was incorrect and that I shouldn’t have paid more than $1000 in principal in the 3 years we’ve had it..yet, I had my statement in front of me and our principal was reduced by almost $10000. Bottom line, we canceled the contract. I feel we were completely taken advantage of. Wells was making $9K right off the bat by charging the discounts and then he literally yelled into the phone that Wells wasn’t making any money off the loan….I am still sitting here in shock that I was treated that way by professionals…I have been a Wellls Fargo customer for over 15 years. I attached a letter detailing my experience with our loan cancellation request.
I had almost the exact same experience with Wells fargo, mine dragged on for about 4 months and at the end it was like they were trying to pull a fast one. I’m totally done with them.
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FOLLOW UP: This morning I came into work to find the package I sent to cancel the loan sitting on my desk. It was returned from the post office as undeliverable as addressed. I double-checked and its exactly what they wrote in the cancellation letter…I called Wells Fargo this morning and I didn’t get any help, they referred me back to the woman I worked with to get the loan. She DENIED ever speaking to me about our intent to cancel. She claimed I called her to ask a question and said this was the first she’s heard of this. A total liar and I couldn’t believe my ears. She then hung up on the both myself and the woman from Wells Fargo who was trying to help me. I am in complete shock and I don’t know what to do…How do you go up against a a bank like Wells Fargo….I did everything I was supposed to do and still they “won”. Our old loan has been paid and this new loan has been processed. They have increased my debt by over $16,000 and I can’t even think straight. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do….I am so upset.
Hi,
I hope you kept the returned envelope and the letter stating the address as you wrote it on the return envelope. Call your State Attorney General’s office of consumer fraud. I’d also file a complaint with FDIC and the Federal Reserve. I have also had a mortgage person claim they never had discussions with me or my spoue about our mortgage. I think they are all so scared of being sued they do anything. I’d also encourage you to see a tort lawyer. I think you have every right to seek legal recourse.
We started the modification process months ago and it took months for them to get the paperwork to us. When they finally did it was only a small savings and the interest rate was not dropped. We still could not afford the payment but we had to sign or be foreclosed on. Our first payment was due sept 1st and we sent this in. I checked the website today to see if our payment had been received it had but it is listed on the site that our payment was more than we were told it would be so Oct 1st we are being charged their new amount not amount we were told plus the difference that we did not pay sept 1st plus late fees. Now our payment is back where is was which we could not afford and for Oct it is more than it was in past. If anyone knows where I can turn to help with this please let us know.
I had a typo in earlier post. The sentence should be we had to sign or be foreclosed on. Like I said above any help would be appreciated. Can I contact the government since this was a government program and the bank is supposed to be receiving funds for this. Ours bank is Countrywide now Bank of America.
After US Bank denied my request for a loan modification about a Month ago, I originally applied last April, I called them and spoke to a customer rep. She couldn’t tell me the reason because that info wasn’t available to her at her computer. She wanted me to re apply so we did that day. That was about a Month ago, Today… Received a letter stating my home loan modification request has been denied because I
“Did not meet the Net Present Value (“NPV”) requirement as defined by H.A.M.P.”
I’m just curious to know what this NPV is? When I re applied, I got a little concerned when I spoke to that person, she mentioned that the NEW value of the property was at 300K (loan amount is at 297K). My last appraisal was May 08 for 450K. Now, I know property values went down somewhat but jeez! Could owning another piece of property thats paid for outright (say 30-40K to be generous) be whats screwing up the computer model US Bank uses? I was told that the banks really don’t have to do anything for us because the program is voluntary. Has anybody actually heard of, seen on tv, read about in the newspapers…. people that this program has been granted too? I haven’t. Ah… Ohwell…… good luck everyone hope it works out for you all!
I tried to refinance through Aurora Loan. They informed me that LVT has to be 95 percent instead of 125.
I was denied
We started the loan modification process with B of A in June due to hardship. I lost my job and my husband was on temporary disability due to a second hip surgery. After fulfilling all of the requirements for a loan modification and turning in the mountains of paperwork. B of A will not work with us because we have not had a consistent income. Even though we have not been more than 30 days late on our payments. I just heard that the government is supposed to be coming down on these banks because they are not doing their jobs in helping people keep their homes. The idea is to offer assistance even temporarily to see if people can keep their payment agreements. We have been great customers to B of A and I am really frustrated- if you call their automated “making home affordable” line they read off a list of requirements to qualify for a loan mod. We meet ALL of those requirements: # 1. We are in a hardship situation. 2.Our mortgage payment is greater than 30% of our gross monthly income. 3. Our loan is for our primary residence and we live in our home. 4. Our loan is for less than $750,000. and 5. Our loan origination date is prior to Feb or ? 2009. We are really concerned and I am wondering if there is a way to get this information to the GOV. Today B of A was not available by phone to discuss the matter – our Loan Modification sits as “under review”
We’ve had a HORRIBLE experience with Chase. We started in April 09′ with 3rd party who still owes us $2200 to this day and haven’t paid us. We stilll don’t have a modification because Chase says we don’t qualify even though our mortgage payment is 50% of our monthly income. We borrowed money to help keep our payments current and we are figuring Chase used that money as income. The truth is we have to pay that back, it never was income and wasn’t listed on our payment stubs. They looked at our bank account and said that we were getting money from somewhere so they assumed we have money we aren’t telling them about. We have told the complete truth. They just don’t want to help anyone is bending over backwards to keep their payments current. I don’t trust them and honestly don’t think they are using correct information. I know the truth prevails and God will honor our honesty. And, I pray that others who are in worse shape than we are are given mods quickly. However, this program isn’t working as the Gov. has promised.
went through a partial claims a long time ago (told i was dna then wasnt eligible for a modificaiton). Got a call on friday from bank of america to start a modification program. has this hapened to anyone else. my payments actually went up with the partial claim. Is this a good thing to try for the modifcation or just the same old baloney.
I applied for a loan mod through wells fargo. Throughout the process, they insisted that I setup a escrow account. I was never late on my payment and my taxes were paid on time. So, I did not know what the issue was. But that was their requirement so I had to agree. Anyhow, they later DENIED the loan modification, but guess what? They stuck the escrow account on my mortgage anyway. So now my mortgage is HIGHER! Simply because I tried to be proactive by seeking a loan modification.
i have a loan through wells fargo and had called about refinancing, at first sounded great, saving about 170 month then when the paperwork came it was only 22 a month, i called the guy i was dealing with and he did not have much to say, its a scam to get you started!! right now i am in the process of refinancing with a company named carnegie mortgage its part of grand bank, so far everything is falling into place but i am just wondering what the final closing will show as, has anyone done busines with this company??
Guys:
Is the Making Home Affordable program via BOA really too good to be true?
The way the load officer made it sound on the phone was too good to be true.
I am always suspicious about such things and not sure if I can go ahead with this refi.
Just around 3K for refinancing, no PMI, no 5% or 20% downpayment, payment reduced by over 300 $$, no income verification, no origination fees, no points etc.
BTW: we are a current customer of BOA for our mortgage.
Can someone pls educate me – should I move forward with this loan?
Does it make sense to start another 30 year refi at around 4.875%?
Please advice.
Thank you.
SP
If it is truly under Making Homes Affordable you pay nothing. Not a cent and they send you express packages to mail things back. My loan was pushed down to 3.1% for the first 5 years to max out at 4.37% if anyone is taking money to help you with this program you are not dealing with the right person.
Correction to previous note: should state LOAN office, not load…Thx. SP
it is very tricky and it sometimes sounds good but the deal is really not that great. find a website that has refinance calcultors and plug some of the numbers in to see how long it would take you to break even if you refinance. I spoke to at least 4-5 different companys, including wells fargo and they all seem to exagerate the great deal, but once I started the process the figures kept changing and in the end it just was not worth it to me. so far the compay i am working with seems to be accurate and they are sticking to what our original cost were but only time will tell. i am pretty good at detail and working with numbersn and have bought and sold several properties in my life, so if you are not to good with numbers and details, it would be good to get someone who is knowledgeable and can put it all together and figure it out. i will post my final closing and let cyberspace folks if i recommend the company i am refinancing with now. Good luck to you
We had a loan with Countrywide when B of A took over. I originally started with HUD (snails move faster) and they did nothing. They were very nice though but kept giving me advice and no follow-up. We then moved to a Law Group called Prosper Law. We have paid them $3,000 so far to advocate for our loan modifiication only to find out that through Senate Bill 94 I believe, that we should not have paid them up front.
I don’t know where this is going. It is scary and feels out of control. I wonder if Obama even cares. He’s too busy with oil spills these days to help the American people. The banks got bailed with TARP money (our money) but won’t help us. The whole things stinks if you ask me. The Countrywides lied to the people; their gone and we’re screwed. B of A just inherited the mess. I don’t blame them but someone should have regulated the mortgage industry, brokers, realtors like they have done for years with the Insurance industry. We would never be in this mess. It started with Clinton when he wanted to make loans available to minorities but without regulation it persisted into the Bush era unregulated until it was too late.
My mortgage is with Wells Fargo, I tried last year and was denied because my house is worth less than what I owe and I also have a HELOC with another bacnk that would not subordinate. In July of this year I was approached by an investment officer with Wachovia that I might be eligible for a mortgage program call The Three Step Process, btw Wachovia is Wells Fargo They checked my eligibility and I was eligible.. well to begin with anyway. I was thrilled, they were lowering my rate, no closing costs. Saving me over $200.00 a month. I went through the whole process and when it came time to subordinate, thats when the problems started. According to Wells Fargo I am not eligible for this program because “my junior lender” is not on an approved junior lender list that Wells Fargo issued internally. They issued this memo internally because they got such an overwhelming response to this program and they weren’t receiving the subordinations letter in a timely manner. So they issued a memo with the banks “they are willing to deal with”. The loan officer that took my application wasn’t aware of this memo, and of course after I am denied doesn’t return any of my phone calls. Why would they notify the employees in the field who are taking the loan applications from customers?? I called the bank that I have my 2nd mortgage with and they were willing to subordinate because there was no new money just a rate reduction. Where as last year they wouldn’t because there would of been new money to cover the closing costs. I am not eligible for a regular refi because my home value is less than what I owe, then I would have pmi so why would I do a refi, I am looking to lower my payments. So how does any of these programs that Obama created suppose to help??? I filed a complaint with the OCC which is the govrning body of Wells Fargo. Still awaiting a response from them, but I recieved a response from Wells Fargo with the same information that I was told before. How can these banks get away with this??? They are not out there to help you. I am not late on any of my bills, pay everything on time and bascially get screwed anyway… Its certainly not my fault that the values of homes have declined. Where are you suppose to go for help??? Any suggestions from anyone would be appreciated. Thanks
Debbie, I am in almost the same situation as you. I have a 30 yr. fixed 6.375% mortgage. I have was denied a refi under by Quikcen even though I met all criteria of the new HARP 2.o Program. At least Quicken was honest they told me that I was just too far under-water. I called my Congressman, his chielf of staff spoke with me and told me that there is nothing he or anyone can do. The bank has the final say in writing the loan. He also told me that only 25%-30% of people attempting to refi using the new HARP 2.0 program are expected to be successful! You know what I think, in 3 months when mortgage rates are up around 5.25% the banks will somehow magically start to give out loans to those of us responsible people just trying to refi! So frustrating!
Hi Peter, I also have a Countrywide/BofA Loan but through Fannie Mae. I’m really struggling w/ my mortgage payments. Of course I tried that useless BofA hotline to no avail. Do you mind sharing the contact info of who you were able to speak to? You said @mortgagereports via twitter was helpful, do you recommend I ask for his help as well?
Here is a description of my recent dilemma with Chase HARP refi loan and hoping someone can let me know if this is legit and or my loan officer screwed up and now back peddling try to fix it and interim I believe it costing me more in fees.
Description:
Shortly before my closing I am now quoted $3040.00 in lender fees, compared to the $890 I was quoted in GFE at the time my rate was locked .
It was a total surprise to me because I made sure to explain my situation to my loan officer before I began my application. I mentioned my loan is currently held with Chase and I am in 6th year in 30 yr term at 5.625 % with a balance $274,000 and also have a second loan with PNC bank with Equity line $60,000 balance $20,000. And was then told I qualify for HARP program. It seemed like a slam dunk deal so I made sure I was accurately quoted and was told my rate is 3.875 % 15 yr term 0 points, so I agreed move forward with my application .
On July 7th I received a GFE and to my surprise showed my loan amount of $280,000 and fees $1,050.00. I immediately contacted my loan officer via email and expressed concerns about the discrepancies in the GFE . He stated the $280,000 is an approximate what I will owe after all of the closing was rolled in and he assured me the $1,050 additional lender fees will be taken off as we get closer to closing because the system wouldn’t allow him to take it off in the GFE. Seems strange but I trust he would keep his promise so seemed ok at the time. I also did mention I may opt to pay closing out of pocket so my actual loan balance of $274,000 should be taken in calculations when processing my loan.
After several phone calls and follow ups, I finally received my GFE and was very pleased to see the additional lender fee was removed however the incorrect loan amount of $280,000 was still noted in the GFE. The following week I was ask to provide additional documentation and got everything the loan processor asked for within a week. A week later my loan officer contacted me and mention I need to close my equity line of $40,000 with PNC bank. I asked why wasn’t this mentioned at the time of my application when I had indicated I have a second loan with PNC Bank ,his response was it is required to move forward with the loan, not happy with the response but because I was assured the same closing cost pricing in the GFE I closed my equity line of $40,000 with PNC bank in order to move forward with the loan. A week later I received a letter that my loan has been approved. Up until this point I am very excite and can’t wait to get my new loan , until I received call from my Loan officer that my electronic appraisal value has been adjusted from $354,000 to $351,000 . I said how could this be because I just received a letter that my loan has been approved and it also mentioned my electronic home appraisal value expires 9/1/11 within plenty of time to get my loan completed ,he provided no explanation but mentioned he will look into it. I also stated since my loan balance is actual $274,000 and NOT $280,000 as indicated in my application the difference in the appraisal of $3,000 should be offset by my actual loan balance $280,000 – $274,000 = 6,000 and my LTV and CLTV percentages would look even better. Make perfect sense to me . He said no , it doesn’t make a difference and therefore an additional $1750.00 as been added to my closing origination charge..
I know seems like a lot to decipher but it seems to me like a classic “bait and switch” or my loan officer didn’t enter information about my subornation loan with PNC Bank at the time of my application and thus found out shortly before my closing .Now i am out $395.00 cost of my application fee if I cancel . based on my description can i get a refund ? and is the extra fees all legit of seem like my loan office made an error and not costing me more fees closing cost . Waht are my option ?
I am a 100% service connected Vet and I recieved an offer for a refi from BNC National Bank for a 3.875% on a 30 yr fixed VA. Which seemed like a great deal. Closing costs were about $2,000. I was excited and motivated and sent off all my financials. They ordered the wrong appraisal and were under a false assumption that it was a streamline VA refi. By the time they figured out that they were doing the wrong loan, I was pushing my rate lock expiration. They then asked me to pay $1,326.00 to extend my rate and had me pay for another appraisal. I paid for the appraisal and it turned out that they ordered an FHA appraisal instead of a VA. They agreed to pay for the rate lock extension and they ordered and paid for the VA appraisal and we were set to close. I asked them repeatedly if they knew who they were selling the loan to because I wanted to know what company I was going to have to deal with for the next 30 years and I only wanted a reputable company. They repeatedly told me they did not know who it would be until after closing, but that they only dealt with a small group of servicers like chase, wells fargo and bank of america. When the loan docs came for signing I noticed that the company listed was suntrust, (which apparently they know about for two weeks), so I looked up complaints online against thier company. There are tons and tons of them, many unresolved. Also attorney generals had filed against them for padding escrow account charges and foreclosing on people that were making thier payments but refusing to pay the triple charges to escrow that the company was demanding. Not to mention securing forced flood insurance for people that already had it and not removing it even after the people proved that they had adequate coverage. Needless to say, I refused to sign, but BNC is telling me I have no choice not to do business with suntrust if I want my loan to go through and that they are not able to offer my loan to a more reputable outfit. All of these problems are just another indication that the banks don’t really care about people, it is just another way for banks to take advantage of hard working people.
Hi I was hoping that you might be able to give me a bit of advice. My Uncle unexpectedly passed away a year ago New years eve. My poor aunt is stuck in this cycle with B of A and can not get anyone to help her. She says that she believes that she qualifies for the revised Home affordable refinance program but B of A keeps telling her that they do not have the rules yet. They keep telling her that once they get things set up they will call her. She has been calling them since November with no progress. Today 1-3-12 she called them again and they told her the same thing. She was told that they are still not set up but the rep that she was talking to said that she heard that the program is only good througt the first quarter of 2012. My Aunt then asked them if they could just take her application so that when they were ready to process the applications she would be ready to go. They told her that they couldn’t do that and that she needed to wait. Her fear at this point is that nobody is going to help her and that she will run out of time. She can not continue to pay these high payments on her own & she does not want to lose what her and my uncle worked all these years to build.
Well, I’ve been call lenders for months now… I hear that I must pay PMI even though my house is worth more then 20% of what I owe. They insist on an appraisal and blame it on everyone from Fannie Mae to that they are a Freddy shop. One bank was processing the numbers with a 6000 discrepancy. My loan originated as an FHA loan have the number and everything, and is currently held as Fannie Mae, I should under no circumstances have to pay the PMI, nor an appraisal, in addition to paying for a whole new loan.
So my question is this, if I must make all the same commitments and sacrifice as a conventional refinance… how can these banks think I’m stupid enough to let them tell me this is streamlined?
Chris
thanks for the info, I am refinancing right now. Should I borrow money from a Mutual fund at a small penalty to cover closing costs? or roll them into the loan?
Can I write off the closing costs, next year at tax time, because this is a HARP refinance?
Thank you so much for posting about your experiences. You’ve done us all a great service. It is nice to know that we are not alone in dealing with the bank “run around” techniques re HARP 2.0.
Hi, I have a question regarding my refi through wells fargo. I am going from 5.5 rate at 23 half years left to a re fi of 3.875 at 2o years. They want 1300 down and are adding 4600 to my loan amount. I am ssaving 90 ma month. Is this a good deal. Single father just wanted some help with understanding these numbers. Thanks
I have a home loan with Ocwen and as well a 2nd mortgage with Citi let me tell you guys and any advise you can give to comfort me would be greatly appreciated. I am having trouble as I have had for a while and now I see greater times coming I have sold just about everything of value I have. so I decide to try for a refinance with both loans with Citi they told me that I qualify and then wanted to refinance for a longer term at a payment amount that was just a bit higher than I was paying. With Ocwen they said didn’t qualify but in-house would help with a lower payment BUT old payment of 525 and a pay off in 2023 the new so called help was 425 that included insurance and escrow for tax but in insurance it only paid off Ocwen and me and Citi was just left in the cold so I would have to get a sub insurance to take care of that then in 2023 I owe a balloon payment in the amount of 37400 that at the time they would refinance for me I guess so how is keeping you in debt for 20 years help. I want to complain about this to someone but who? what do I do just brush it off and lose my home after fighting to keep it who will help me with the home I live in being part mobile home. I’m at a loss and scared and worried. it seams to me my home is about half paid and the bank wants to profit from me. in stead of help.
CitiMortgage HARP for me is never ending forms. Forms that are never current or obsolete. I can’t tell you how much paperwork mailed or useless phone calls I’ve made. So much stress due to illness and getting no help from Citi. Just one big scam. A person takes the time to go for it only to hear lie after lie
Themakinghomeaffordablerefinanceprogram is a joke!….I had a mortgage with Bank of American. I got a trial modification after I was laid off my job during the economic crisis. my interest rate on my loan was 6.125 and my mortgage payment was 981.00 each month I was given a trial modificaiton payment of 744.81 that I was supposed to pay for 3 months and I assume that would be my permament monthly rate after my interest rate was lowered. I ended up being on a trial mod from 2009 to 2014 and between that spand of time I went through hell. I was assigned case manager after case manager, and they all would send me the same letter, the only thing that changed about the letter would be the case manager’s name , and/or a phone call and they both would say the same thing ” I am the case manager assigned to your loan I will be working toward getting you a permanent modification”. and I would say ” I thought you could only be on a modificaton for 3 months why is it taking so long’ I never got an answer to that question. In 2012 they changed my trial modification payment from $744.81 to $744.80. I continued to make the trial payment and no one from Bank of America was saying anything different until I received a phone call in June 2014 from a bank america rep to let me know that he was my knew case manager and of course “he would be working toward getting me a permanent modification” he gave me his direct number to call him with questions and to make a payment, in which all the other case managers did so my response was “oh, okay…..and give him my trial payment of $744.80 for June, 2014, Now, I always made my trial payments over the phone with the case manager so in July of 2014 I called and this case manager a couple of weeks I continue to get his voice mail, he finally decided to call me back, I told him I need to make my payment for July and find out when I would be get a perm mod because I need to know where I stand with this mortgage this man saids to me that I will have to start over with him which meant: The process I started back in 2009, financial ,personal information EVERYTHING! I went through I would have to go backward! to move forward!!! or they would have to start foreclosure proceedings….. I did not miss one trial payment and this man is telling me I have to start over after having me on a trial modification that was only supposed to last for 3 months and it lasted 5 and 1/2 years….. REALLY?!!!!!!!!! …WELL I kept every document,letter, memo, bank of america envelope, pocket folder, fedex packet, name, number, phone bill with list of calls to and from or whatever bank of america had sent to me since 2009,I filed a COMPLAINT with the Attorney General’s Office in my state……. after speaking with the Attorney General’s office Bank of America put me back in goodstanding with them and I sold that darn house! BUT! I am still looking for an Attorney that will HELP ME!! sue them for my pain distress and suffering. Does anybody know one that will help me?
Before you refinance, think of this. When a loan is new, the banks stack the payments against you by apportioning .9999% of the loan towards interest instead of your principal. As your loan ages, the portion that is going towards your actual real balance/loan increases, until the 30 yrs is up and you will finally then be paying 100% towards the principal. When people get hung up on how much their payment is, saving $200 becomes nothing. It is actually better to keep the higher interest rate and the age of the loan going for you and paying an extra $100 or $200 toward your principal each month instead of giving it to the bank. This brings your percentage of real loan payment up to 40% or 50% each month. Banks will make $10000 off your refinance that you won’t recoup for years, plus you will be starting again from ground zero at the 99% rate of interest. (Ever notice how many grubby paws are “sitting in” in a loan closing. All these people are getting a cut. You just paid for all their new cars while you drive an old beater for the next 10 yrs.) Please don’t fall victim to the banks and their greed. They know you aren’t thinking of this when you refinance. 99% of your payment to them is useless until the end of your loan comes and then finally you are really paying it off.
I applied for a HAMP loan thru MakingHomeAffordable.gov. It does work, it saves me a lot of money and did not cost me a dime. I had $171,000 deferred for 40 years at 0 interest and only paid 2% interest on the rest for 5 years, now paying 3%, never to go higher than 4%. Received $1000 per year for 5 years automatically applied to my principle and am now eligible to receive another $5000 towards my principle. FreddieMac owned my loan and it was serviced by CitiMortgage. All my taxes and insurance are escrowed.
I have been trying since September of 2014 to get my mortgage redone based on just my income, I re-started with Citimortgage in September of last year and on Christmas Eve was told that I had to wait until it had been 5 years since our first modification so in January 2015 I started trying again only to be giving the run around over and over until I learned in about mid April 2015 that my mortgage had been sold.
At first Citimortgage told me they would still be servicing the mortgage but then they transferred it on May 1, 12015 to Select Portfolio Servicing. And they are the WORSE OF ALL SO FAR. I am still getting the run around from them. I also called and filed a claim with Making Home Afforable and I truly THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE GOING TO REALLY HELP ME!!!!! ONLY TO LEARN THAT WAS A FALSE ASSUMPTION. I have called them 3 times this week with promises to be called back and here it is now Saturday and no calls back. So I am going to try to get a copy of my 2014 1040 tax form to send to Select Portfolio Servicing and then if they turn me down I simply DO NOT KNOW WHAT I WILL DO. Both my husband and myself have been TOTALLY AND ROYALLY SCREWED BY CITIMORTGAGE and have had our credit ruined. And here is the kicker I have NEVER EVER MISSED A MORTGAGE PAYMENT OR BEEN LATE SINCE (with these 2 servicers) since April 2008!!!!!!!!!!!! All I want and need is for my interest rate to be lowered so that I can afford the mortgage payment. Right now after I pay that payment from my Social Security Check and Pension I have about $90 left over to live on and then what ever my husband can give me. He is no longer living in the home and hasn’t lived him since April 5, 2013. I SIMPLY CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT THE TOO BIG TOO FAIL BANK AND NOW THIS FLY BY NIGHT NEW SERVICER CAN TREAT AMERICANS LIKE THIS AND CONTINUE TO NOT ONLY GET AWAY WITH IT BUT ALSO ARE TAKING MONEY FROM AMERICAN TAX PAYERS TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE ME AND THOSE THAT HAVE POSTED HERE AND BEING ABLE TO JUST POCKET IT FOR THEMSELVES. GO ON LINE AND GOOGLE SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING AND SEE HAVE MANY COMPLAINTS ARE ON THERE REGARDING THEM AND HOW MANY HONEST AMERICANS THEY HAVE TOTALLY AND ROYALLY SCREWED OUT OF THEIR HOMES, ETC>
I am widow of 4 yrs n have a 30 yr adjustable mtg.that changes yrly up or down no more than 2 pts…taken out in 2004 for 50,000…..appraised at 55,000. Owe about 44,0000 @ 280 a month that includes escrow…..my rate now is about 3.25…..what Idy like is to see if I could get it converted to 30 or 15 yr fixed for about same monthly payment…. Need some home repairs so like to have cash out of 5000.00contacted by Jstp that I appear to be eligible but have not returned the call…. Pointers please….
We were given the run around from step one by Wells Fargo. We would initially be assigned a Mortgage specialist and we we obtained all of our documents and uploaded them through the website we would soon learn that our Mortgage specialist had been reassigned and we would have a new person who could not located any of our paperwork. We went through 5 specialist and were finally told that we did not qualify because we were not behind on our mortgage payments. Previously we were told that we could not be behind. Needless to say they offered us a Refi which would require that we pay over 7000 in closing cost and would only reduce our payments by 50.00 per month. The whole process was a joke and I was never given a straight answer as to why we did not qualify for a HARP loan
anybody can lower any mortgage if they refinance to 30 years –
THere are many thing you should be aware off. The main thing – use HARP ONLY if you are loosing your home. I listened to lies by the bank that said “we can help you”. I was never late with my payments but struggled a little. So I turned to the bank for help. BIG MISTAKE!!! First – they lied, second – they lied, and third – they lied. They never told me that they had to bring me to the default. So I paid them mortgage as usual and they collected it without applying to my mortgage. Every my call was ignored. And “dedicated person” was never available or just hang up on me after getting my name. I realised my mistake after two defaults . A person who did it parralel to me continued. At the end they told him ” you are not qualified for the program” so you have to repay all penalties, all mortgage (they strethed it for 6 months) Totaling $12000 in one payment. He could not afford it so the bank started foreclosure. Later the guy managed through attorney to make a deal to add that amount to his mortgage so after bank’s “help” his mortgage went way up. I got lucky and got away from taht “help”. So be aware and don’t tryst that smiling lady at the bank
That’s nice. Bank of America lied and made us pay $4,000 three times to see if we qualified for HARP. Each loan they kept and told us we were rejected by the program. One of their employees told us we were being lied to and what date they got the last money from HARP. She told us to call weekly and mention the date and that we had a lawyer. After a month BOA offered a “in house” loan. They tacked the 20,000 they claimed we now owed cause they stopped accepting our loan payments. Old payment $1300 and new $1500+. We sued and got $300. Today I have no home. HARP told us for three years we’d qualified and our new payment was $900. The government made a way for BOA to take my home and make money off us doing it. The HARP program had no rules for banks. Glad it’s ending
I thought harp program was to help people that needed help with their mortgage? I lost my job,husband on disability,had to do bankruptcy,so now a have no credit.0 none,still paying mortgage,just thought harp could help in someway,not just send me to lenders