Upside Down Refinance

Thank you for your question about refinancing your mortgage for your property that you owe more on than it is worth. Your options to refinance your loan are very limited, when you are upside-down on your home.

You did not say what goal you want to accomplish by refinancing. Are you trying to lower your monthly payment, due to difficulties making your monthly payment? Do you want to take cash out of your home’s equity to pay for something?

I don’t believe what you were told about refinancing was accurate. If you were to miss two mortgage payments, I don’t think your lender would approve you for a refinance loan. I think it is much likelier that you could need to miss two payments in order to meet your lender’s requirements for a loan modification. According to the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), "a loan modification is a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a mortgagor's loan, allows the loan to be reinstated, and results in a payment the mortgagor can afford." Some lenders will not approve anyone for a loan modification unless he or she has first fallen behind on the mortgage payments.

If it is not a loan modification that you seek, but a refinance, there are a few programs that exist for borrowers who are upside-down on their mortgages.

Refi Plus

One program is called ‘Refi Plus.’ Refi Plus loans are available only for loans that are backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  In theory, Refi Plus loans can be offered up to 125% of the value of your property, but it seems that most lenders will not lend beyond 105%.

FHA Short Refinance Program

A second program designed for upside-down borrowers is the FHA Short Refinance program. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) initiated this new government loan program to assist homeowners who have seen their property values drop. The program began on September 7th, 2010 and is slated to run through December 21st, 2012. The goal is to help borrowers in a negative equity position refinance into a more secure loan. Under the FHA Short Refinance program, a lender reduces the principal balance on the mortgage. The reduced-balance loan then passes from the private hands of the lender or investor that owns the loan to a loan that is guaranteed by the federal government. Previous government programs attempted to aid those who are behind on their mortgage payments. The new FHA Short Refi is targeted to borrowers who are current and can afford their payments, borrowers who could not qualify for the different loan modification programs available.

FHA Short Refinance Requirements

The FHA Short Refinance program has a lot of restrictions. In order to qualify for the program a borrower must:

1. Be up-to-date on the payments for the current mortgage
2. Be in a negative equity position
3. Live in the property as the primary residence
4. Have a current loan that is NOT an FHA guaranteed loan
5. Meet FHA qualifying rules for debt-to-income ratio
6. Have a credit score of over 500
7. Receive at least a 10% reduction in the principal balance from the current lender
8. Not exceed a loan-to-value of 97.75% on the new FHA loan

Requirements for Properties with Second Mortgages

Properties with second loans or home equity lines of credit (HELOC) have additional restrictions:

1. Any second loan must agree to be subordinated
2. If the borrower has a second mortgage the combined loan-to-value can reach 115%.
3. The second loan cannot call for a balloon repayment, for a minimum of 10 years, unless the property is sold or refinanced.

Previous loan modification is not a barrier

Even borrowers who have gone through a loan modification may qualify for the new FHA Short Refinance program. If a borrower went through the Making Homes Affordable Program, he may be eligible for the new FHA program in the month after the loan modification was made permanent. A three month on-time payment history is required for eligibility for any borrower who had a loan modification outside of the Making Homes Affordable Program. In fact, the new FHA Short Refi may be an ideal way for someone who has completed a loan modification to further improve his or her financial position.

FHA Short Refinance Negatives

Potential negative effects of the program include an FHA requirement to purchase mortgage insurance, closing costs for the new loan, and the chance that a lender can report a reduction in the principal balance to the credit bureaus, harming the borrower's credit score.

Summary

I recommend that you look at both the FHA Short Refinance and the Refi Plus program. If you are not eligible for either program, then you need to weigh the potential benefits of a loan modification program’s lower monthly payment against the negative effects of missing mortgage payments, which your lender seems to require before a loan modification application will be reviewed.