For a small offering to the Church of Red, you can be absolved of your shortcomings.

The first phase of HARP 2.0 rolls out Monday. It may not be the free-for-all that many were hoping for. Also, it's hard to tell if there will be lender overlays. For example, I initially read that HARP 2.0 will not have a minimum credit score, as long as the mortgage was current. Everything that I'm seeing has a minimum credit score of 620 which would probably mean that the lender has put an overlay on it, which is common.

Here's one lender's interpretation of HARP 2.0:

-No LTV/CLTV
-No Assets (2nd home and NOO will require reserves)
-Only current Fannie Mae Owned Loans are Eligible
-Reduction in Term to 20 Years of Less will have Reduced Adjustors
-MI Loans Allowed (loans that already have mortgage insurance)
-Appraisal Waivers Accepted
-Net Tangible Benefit Required
-No Cash Back to Borrowers
-620 FICO required
-Existing Loan must have Closed Prior to June 1, 2009


I know that there is some mortgage jargon in there so I'm sure y'all have questions.

Fire away and I'll do my best to answer them.

I can't get a clear answer on this.

Right now, while lenders are trying to make sense of it, I think it's going to largely go by a lender by lender basis....it depends on how they interpret HARP 2.0.

From everything that I'm seeing (or not seeing) about income verification, I would assume that the DTI and income guidelines are the same.

We'll see.....