HARP 2.0 Guidelines - Mortgage Brokers Offer More Assistance Than Banks

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- The real estate market is currently painting a bleak future for the U.S, and experts believe that it may be decades before the housing market stabilizes. Many disillusioned homeowners who have applied for a mortgage refinance under HARP 2.0 have been denied even though they satisfy the eligibility criteria. After waiting for a long time, the public introduction of HARP 2.0 announced improved and more relaxed guidelines to offer help to the millions who are trying to stay afloat. This news has created what many believe would be the refi boom of the decade, but many are asking why they are being denied.

Homeowners all across the nation are quickly learning that the banks’ own set of underwriting criteria often contradict the very promising HARP 2.0 guidelines as announced. The arbitrary bank HARP 2.0 guidelines have up until recently been blindly accepted due to the limited amount of lenders participating in the HARP 2.0 refinance program. The Home Affordable Refinance Program which was designed to help homeowners, has fallen short in the eyes of many deserving applicants. Millions of homeowners are finding that mortgage brokers represent the most efficient solutions.

“I have a 780 credit score my payments have been impeccable and whenever possible I throw between $50 to $100 each and every month towards the principal. My job is stable and I provided all the requested paystubs, yet I was denied  because my credit report was pulled by another lender, and the bank said that this indicates a risk. How does shopping for the best rate represent a risk?” Says Armando Gonzales of Arlington, VA.

Lender pipelines are so full that applicants are told  closings may take place within 10 weeks. Mortgage brokers have the ability to run comparison rate analyses on different lender guidelines.Their correspondent status with lenders means that in addition to knowing each lenders “overlays” (additional underwriting guidelines), they can also provide faster closings. Brokers only pull a credit report once which is automatically imported into the DU Refi Plus underwriting platform to avoid any decrease in the homeowners credit scores.Knowing which lenders approve beyond 150% LTV (loan to value), and which banks disregard previous bankruptcies and foreclosures saves homeowners a lot of stress and aggravation while increasing approvals for underwater homeowners.

A & A Financial Solutions in Washington, DC announced that four more lenders have joined the HARP 2.0 refinancing platform. Applicant scenarios will now be run through a network of 21 national lenders for homeowners looking to refinance under the newly improved Home Affordable Refinance Program. For information Homeowners can visit http://www.harp-refinance-info.com