The phrase
"underwater homeowners" refers to people who owe more money on their mortgages than the current value of their homes. This means that if they were to sell their home, they would not make enough money to pay off their mortgage loan.
Full definition
This would help a great deal
of underwater homeowners who have been unable to qualify under the program's current iteration.
First, the logic that rising prices will unlock
underwater homeowners who will add to supplies of for - sale homes does not have merit.
It was created by the government in response to the housing crash to
assist underwater homeowners take advantage of low market interest rates and refinance even though there was no equity in their home.
The measure was designed to keep
underwater homeowners from having to pay income taxes on the portion of their mortgage debt that was wiped out in a short sale or other mitigation tactic.
A previous post demonstrated that rising house prices have contributed to a decline in the share
of underwater homeowners.
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Alberta is also unusual since it's one of only two provinces (Saskatchewan is the other) that
allows underwater homeowners to essentially «walk away» from their houses — and mortgage obligations — without further recourse or even damage to their credit ratings.
The new changes eliminated the LTV caps, so that no matter
how underwater homeowners were on their mortgages, they could refinance.
Nearly 40 percent of
underwater homeowners owe between 1 and 20 percent more than their home is worth, and another 21 percent owe between 21 and 40 percent more than their home's value.
The unstated idea behind LendingTree's recommendation is to take out a home equity or so - called consolidation loan, or to refinance your current mortgage and take cash out (like millions of now
underwater homeowners did in the decade or so leading up to the 2008 U.S. housing crash), to pay off other, smaller but higher cost, debts like credit card or medical debt.
«As prices have continued to climb in the long term during the post-housing crash, the large portion of the housing market that has been frozen in negative equity has shrunk significantly — meaning that an increasingly large portion of
previously underwater homeowners may now have the option of entering the market.»
The company is a major participant in the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), the government program created in 2009 to assist
underwater homeowners in refinancing their mortgages.
With millions of homeowners underwater on their mortgages — meaning their homes are worth less than the outstanding mortgage balance — the 2007 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act eased the burden
on underwater homeowners and facilitated short sales by making tax - free mortgage debt forgiven through a short sale.
Part of the Obama Administration's announcement to help
underwater homeowners includes the Streamline Refinance offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
To spur interest in HARP, then, and to help consumers understand that HARP is not a scam, the program's sponsoring agency has been hosting «town halls» with
underwater homeowners nationwide.
Merkley also introduced another bill that would encourage people to refinance into loans terms of less than 20 - years, which builds equity faster, by paying $ 1,000 of
underwater homeowners closing costs.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was created to help
underwater homeowners whose loans were guaranteed be Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to be able to refinance at today's current low interest rates.
Minneapolis, MN: As mortgage interest rates fell to all - time lows earlier this year,
even underwater homeowners were able to take advantage of refinancing through mortgage programs that do not require a property appraisal.
«The percent of American single - family homes with mortgages in negative equity (1) fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, down from 23 percent in the second, as home values stabilized in the short term and more
underwater homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.
Desoer's comments allude to the fact that many
underwater homeowners choose to walk away from their mortgages, choosing foreclosure as their only palatable option.
An effort is under way in the Senate to renew legislation that
spares underwater homeowners from having to pay income tax on mortgage debt forgiven by a lender, one of the chief supporters of the tax - relief provision told a group of politically active REALTORS ® during NAR's Federal Policy Conference in Washington.
«Overall, the ongoing rise in home prices should remain supportive for the broader housing market recovery, helping to sustain the improvement in homebuyer confidence and to bring a considerable number of
underwater homeowners back above water,» said Gennadiy Goldberg, U.S. strategist at TD Securities.
It's very possible that HARP 3.0 will be available in 2014,
meaning underwater homeowners could refinance even if their loan is not owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
The new policies will remove or alleviate many of the current obstacles to
enabling underwater homeowners to sell their properties,» said Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy for the Center for American Progress.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program 2.0 has no loan to value restrictions
so underwater homeowners who have been longing to refinance now have a new opportunity.
This program, which would
allow underwater homeowners to refinance conventional loans and get new FHA mortgages with lower principal balances is still DOA.
on Florida Homes Foreclosed by Federal Government Become Rentals: FHFA Invites Landlords in Pilot Phase of New Fed Program While Congress Asks FHFA to Start Working With Underwater Homeowners