What Are the Requirements of a HARP Loan?

The program ended on December 31, 2018.

The requirements for the defunct HARP program were the following:

• The mortgage must have been owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

• The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.

• Borrowers must have been current on their mortgage payments. To be current, borrowers could not have made any mortgage payments more than 30 days late over the previous six months and could not have made more than one late payment over the previous year.

• The mortgaged property must have served as either the borrower's primary residence, a one-unit second home, or a one-to-four-unit rental property.

• The mortgage's loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must exceed 80%. For a fixed-rate mortgage, there was no maximum limit to the LTV ratio. In an adjustable-rate mortgage, the LTV could not have exceeded 105%.

• The borrower could not have refinanced under HARP previously. Borrowers could only use HARP one time to refinance their mortgages.

Tellus TIP:

Though the program ended last year, you should stay informed about current government programs that are designed to help homeowners like you.