Question about refinancing and PMI....

[Anonymous]

Hi guys!  I am so befuddled and am looking for some clarification from a non-interested party.  Background is that me and my husband have a mortgage on our home that originated in Sept. of 2008.  My husband lost his job in 2010 which sent us into a tail spin financially but all the while we have managed to keep our payments in full and on time.  We tried to obtain a modification through our lender, Bank Of America (insert the sound of the Price is Right fail horns now, I know!) but that process was a joke, taking 2 years only to have them tell us that because all payment were made on time that there is no way we could qualify (mind you in the beginning of the process they told us that if a payment was ever late that would cause us to not qualify!!).  After that was over I started calling around just trying to find a refinance option.  Of course the value of the home is lower than it was when we purchased it and I don't even know exactly what the value even is.  There have been homes selling around ours recently, some for $15,000 less than we purchased ours for and a couple for about the same price, and one for about $15,000 more.  According to tax estimate valuations, the home is worth $1,000 less than the pay off of the loan but I don't think tax assesments really count as appraisals.  I contacted BofA about a refinance and their closing costs are so astronomical that I started looking elsewhere.  I found a couple of real promising places with great rates and costs but when we got more into the process we got turned away because of our PMI.  Something about because we still owe so much on it that they couldn't do a refinance?  He told me that no lender other than our current lender would be able to do the refinance because of this.  Could someone explain this to me (as the man at Quicken didn't seem to want to because he realized that there would be no money in it for him)?  Does this appear to be true?  And why would our current lender be the only one that could?  Because of the HARP program and what appears to be a very small "under water'ness" of the loan, no one seemed to feel that would be a problem but now the PMI is what is gonna force me to have to deal with that horrid, horrid lending monster known as Bank of America!!!  Any help would be greatly appreciated and I would be happy to furnish any answer about anything.  Thanks guys!!!

[tooleman694]

Your going to have to bring money to the table so you can get the loan to value in check with the refi..

If you are scoring well, you could probably get away with a 3 percent down conventional loan.. So you would finance 97 percent of the value of the home..

[StartingOver10]

Call a local mortgage banker and a Realtor. The Realtor can give you an idea of actual comparable sales. The mortgage banker can give you options for refinancing. You may have to bring money in to close a refi. You probably can easily do an FHA streamline refi (no appraisal required).  Ask your new lender about that....do not call Quicken - they don't know how to really help you. Call a good mortgage lender/mortgage banker in your area.

[Anonymous]

Before I go on my rant I just want to let you know that you can refinance.  The problem was that they couldn't transfer the PMI, and even the loan for that matter.  So many lenders have their own overlays on the guidelines of the HARP refinance and this really gets me going, so much so that before I joined the lender I work for I grilled them on this issue to make sure they actually facilitate the HARP program more than hinder it.  The HARP program was meant to give underwater borrowers a way to refinance their mortgage into a more workable financial situation.  It's supposed to allow for unlimited LTV given that the situation meets certain criteria and eligibility requirements.  I see so many places that only allow the LTV to go up to 105% and 125% on the 'generous' side.  On top of that they put additional overlays on their product requiring higher credit scores etc.  Why?  It's the same line of thinking they have when you attempt the loan mod "No, it looks like you're making your payments just fine, why should we change our contractual agreement?  Financial hardship?  Doesn't look like it!"  Do they not understand that if a homeowner forecloses on their home then those people won't be able to qualify to borrow money for quite some time?  They're now losing money on both ends.  They got bailed out by the American people, they should be more cooperative.  Sorry about that.  Edited.  I'm assuming you already know if you're eligible for a Harp Refinance but in case there's anyone else who is wondering about the eligibility requirements it goes as follows:

1. Backed by Fannie or Freddie and endorsed by June 1st 2009 (this can easily be checked at the Fannie or Freddie site)

2. No late payment in the last 6 months

3. No more than 1 late payment in the last 12 months

4. You haven't taken advantage of the HARP program yet (some minor exceptions)