Here are the changes as of November 19th, 2008.
1. Increasing the loan to value ratio (LTV) from 90% to 96.50% for some H4H loans: for borrowers whose mortgage payments represent no more than 31 percent of their monthly gross income and household no more than 43 percent.
2. Simplifying the process to remove subordinate liens by permitting upfront payments to lienholders in exchange for releasing their liens, to permit more borrowers access to the program.
3. Extend mortgage loan financing terms to include 30 and 40 year amoritization schedules. This will help to further reduce the housing payment to a qualifying and comfortable level which homeowners can afford to pay.
These changes in the underwriting guidelines should cause the lenders to actually deliver the H4H program to consumers in the coming months. I will keep you posted. Visit the Hope for For Homeowners Program Website for more updates.
Posted by: Steve Linnin
