Currently, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, is only set up to help underwater homeowners with mortgages backed by publicly owned but government-sponsored corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In October, Obama announced the refinancing program would be expanded to allow homeowners to refinance to lower rates no matter how underwater they are on their mortgages, as long as they have a federally backed loan. Investors are also now included in the refinancing plan if their loans are backed by Fannie or Freddie.
But homeowners with private loans have been left out. In Arizona, nearly 50 percent of homeowners are underwater, and many have privately held mortgages. The goal of the expanded program would be to get homeowners lower monthly payments so they will continue to pay their mortgages, even though they owe more than their houses are worth.
Read the rest of the article at AZ Central
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