HARP Outreach Event - Phoenix, Arizona - YouTube

Megan Moore, Special Advisor, FHFA: We're excited to be here today in Phoenix. I am Megan Moore

and I'm a special adviser to Mel Watt, who's the Director of the Federal Housing

Finance Agency

and I will moderate today's event. I'm pleased to see so many folks here in the

audience today

because we really need your help to get the word out about HARP.

So what is HARP? HARP was created by FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac and the Treasury

Department in 2009

as a way to create refinance opportunities for homeowners that had a

solid payment history

but had little to no equity in their homes. Since the program started in March

2009

we have completed more than 3.3 million HARP refinances nationwide.

Our estimates show that this savings has helped borrowers save nearly

$200 dollars a month or $2,400 dollars a year.

And as you can see here, in the Phoenix area borrowers can save even more. They can save

up to $212 dollars a month, which is more than

$2,500 dollars a year.

I'm sure we can find something to do with an extra $2,500 dollars!

So those numbers are good because it means those borrowers are lowering their monthly

payments

but there are still many, many more who are eligible for this program

who have yet to take advantage of it. And that's what we want to talk to you about today.

Statewide there are nearly 19,000

Arizona homeowners, including more than 10,000 in the Phoenix area

who are still eligible for HARP and have a financial incentive to refinance.

We call these these the "in the money" borrowers as a matter fact this

area has the 8th highest concentration of these "in the money" borrowers in the entire

country.

Well I'm here to tell you one thing, if there's one thing you take from this

event:

HARP is not a scam. HARP is a program that can save

real borrowers real money every month and so we're here to share with you some of

the most important information you need to know

so that you can help your community

discern fact from fiction. As trusted community advisers, you can act as a bridge

and help point borrowers in the right direction.

Yvette Gilmore, Vice President, Servicer Relationship and Performance Management, Freddie Mac: So If you have a borrower who's saying well you know what, I'm current,

I'm keeping my head low, hoping everything works out, payments -

I'm making them

that's all I want to do. This is free money. We actually

had a customer, a couple

who knew this thing was about to go left

you know, they were having difficulties, they didn't know what to do

they actually went to our borrower help center partners

and said okay you know, what is there? They were actually

able to work with Reginald's group to get

$48,000 dollars in principal and arrearage

reduction and then wait

a 12-month period and then HARP

that same loan for an additional $400 dollar-a-month reduction.

Robert Koller, Director of Credit Risk Management, Fannie Mae: But I've also been with the program since its

inception back in 2009 and I've seen firsthand how this program can help

change people's lives.

You can work with any lender out there that does HARP refinances and Fannie Mae

has done a nice

job of actually putting lenders that we work with out on a website called:

knowyouroptions.com

and there was a lot of changes that have been made throughout the years, but one

of the main changes is that we lifted

the LTV maximums. So right now whether you have a

loan-to-value ratio of 90 percent or 200 percent, you still can qualify.

Bernie Chavira, Director of Mortgage Origination, Desert Schools Federal Credit Union:

We want you guys to help us spread the word. This is not a gimmick.

This is real. You can save money and even if you've been told "no" before

you may be hearing a "yes" now.

Danielle Johnson-Kutch, Director of Policy, Making Home Affordable Prgram, Treasury Department: The Making Home Affordable program along with HARP have been extended through

December 31st, 2016. So one of the things

at Treasury that we're really focused on this year is making sure that we get that

word out, that there is still help available for the homeowners

who are struggling to make their mortgage payment.

Megan Moore, FHFA: One of the smartest things that Treasury did was established the Hardest Hit Fund Program and Arizona is

a recipient of some of those funds. I believe over $200 million dollars

has come to the state of Arizona. They've been working with

borrowers tirelessly since then. Can you tell us a few minutes about

how your program, principal assistance

program, works in concert with Treasury,

with HAMP, with HARP and just talk a little bit about how borrowers can learn more about that program.

Reginald Givens, Program Administrator, Arizona Department of Housing: We have assistance for consumers that I'm going to touch on briefly

with the monthly mortgage assistance who currently, for whatever reason,

right, can't afford their mortgage payment and therefore can't afford to refinance period.

Our program will subsidize their monthly mortgage payment up to $2,000

dollars a month

for as long as 24 months. And we've had a number of consumers

enter the program in that aspect, receive assistance for period of time,

and then move on to a principal reduction refinance. Megan Moore, FHFA: Reginald, can you repeat the website where

homeowners can go to to apply for the program? Reginald Givens, Arizona Department of Housing: Yes

AZhousing .gov; AZHousing.gov

just look down the left hand side of the web page, you will see the logo: Save Our Home AZ

you will see a hyperlink that says online self assessment. Megan Moore, FHFA: And learning the eligibility

criteria is important. What we tried to do with the HARP program is a way that we

have these

numbers, we have interactive online map

on HARP.gov and you can find all the way down to the zipcode

where these people live, so while we can't give you their name and their address

you can go to Arizona you get the bigger number of the

eligibility, then you can even dwindle it down to the county, Maricopa County,

and then you can dwindle it down even more to the MSA, and then even further to

zipcode. And I think what we're trying to do is help you all be as targeted as

possible

so when you're doing outreach events, when you're engaging with people, check our

map, figure out what zipcode

your event is going to be in and you might have you know

five people who are eligible but on the upwards you might have five hundred, six hundred

even a thousand HARP eligible homeowners in those zipcodes.

Robert Koller, Fannie Mae: Just as a side to that, HARP.gov also links to

Fannie and Freddie Mac's website so rather than

remembering whether the go to Fannie or Freddie you can just go to HARP.gov

and you can link into you our web sites and that's also another way for you to

go

to that HARP.gov website to determine if you're qualified or eligible for HARP.

Yvette Gilmore, Freddie Mac: This is a

lot to navigate I mean it's all there, but you have to know

where to go, which program, what have you, it's hard

and they're struggling. So you know when all of us under stress you don't want to go to

six different web sites to try to figure out

you know what's going on. You need someone to help you navigate

and that's why you all are so important to them

to help them figure this out. Audience Member: Some people actually go to their savings because they're very

conscientious around

making those payments, keeping their payments up, staying current but they

lose their job along way because there's been a reduction in their whatever they're doing.

Can you talk about the employment, the employment requirement for HARP

because I think it's amazing to me that HARP has evolved to the point where even

people that don't actually have a job at that point in time qualify.

Robert Koller, Fannie Mae: From a Fannie Mae perspective, we're not actually confirming your employment, what

we're confirming is

a source of income, right so that you actually have income coming in

to support continuing making mortgage payments

after that the refinance is done. Sujatha Viswanathan, Product Development Manager, Freddie Mac: We actually don't ask for employment either, it's just

we have to verify the source of income, that their is one. Audience Member: I know there's been a

lot of questions by consumers asking

how they can redo another HARP, they've locked in 2009

rates were five, five-and-a-half percent, they're down to

you know below the four percent range now and they feel kinda slighted

because they don't have an opportunity to do it again. Has that conversation come up and are you guys

considering that? Robert Koller, Fannie Mae: So unfortunately no,

the program is, is once you HARP the unfortunately you can't HARP for a second

second time.

Reginald Givens, Arizona Department of Housing: Just because you've HARPed previously doesn't mean

that you can't receive the Save Our Home AZ assistance.

Again, you'd go through the same process of requesting

a certificate, like you're seeking a HARP. You will be advised that you can't receive a HARP

because you've previously HARPed

but you may still be able to receive the principal reduction assistance,

you may still be able to receive an re-amortization of your loan,

which would still not only produce a reduction of principal,

but a reduction of payment along those exact same lines.

Audience Member: Things have evolved, people are confused, they don't know who to believe

so what would you tell people that have been HAMPed and have really low rates

at this point in time? Robert Koller, Fannie Mae: We have to really lay out pros and cons and

your current situation and you current rate and how long that

HAMP modification is going to stay in place and then once it changes, what does it

actually go up to and does it step over

you know how many years. That borrower really should be working with a trusted advisor.

Megan Moore, FHFA: So if you are in a HAMP modification and you're going to experience

an increase in your interest rate

for your mortgage, what options are available for those borrowers who may not

be able to

absorb that payment increase? Danielle Johnson-Kutch, Treasury Department: We have options out there for borrowers who

maybe just need to see a little bit more room in their budget about $50 dollars

or borrowers who are really struggling with that payment and need an additional

assistance option, they can go through HAMP Tier 2. And then of course as I

mentioned earlier,

if they're looking at their situation and this housing situation is

really not the right one, they can apply for a short sale or deed-in-lieu

if they're still underwater and receive $10,000 dollars in relocation assistance.

Bernie Chavira, Desert Schools Federal Credit Union: We havne't talked about something out there called private mortgage insurance and it is keeping borrowers

from applying for a HARP refinance. The good thing about HARP

is if you're not currently paying private mortgage insurance, even if your loan-to-value is now above 80 percent with a refinance, you don't have to pay private mortgage insurance. That's a huge help.

That's more savings. Danielle Johnson-Kutch, Treasury Department: I think the message is just help us get the word out please.

Reginald Givens, Arizona Department of Housing: Major key to any successful relationship is communication. Please help us communicate.

Megan Moore, FHFA: So if you don't remember everything that you heard today

a lot of that information is in the toolkit, all the helpful websites. Thank you you guys for coming today! I really appreciate it!