Has anyone actually used HARP for REI?

Question

This seems to pop up everyone I go on the internet and it seems a bit bogus to me. Does anyone have experience using HARP?

David Dachtera · Answer

@Abram Howard,

This looks like the key eligibility item for investors:

• Your home is your primary residence, a 1-unit second home or a 1- to 4-unit investment property.

So, if you have a property meeting that criterion where the loan was sold to Fannie or Freddie before the end of May, 2009, you want inquire about it quickly - this is July already.

Kyle J. · Answer

@Abram Howard It's not a bogus program, but I'm not sure how you'd use it "for REI".  It's not a program for new loans.  Like @Jared Bouzek said, your loan must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31,  2009 in order to be able to refinance it under HARP.  Here's the actual eligibility requirements:  https://www.harp.gov/Eligibility.

In any event, I believe the program is coming to an end in September of this year.

Jared Bouzek · Answer

@Abram Howard HARP is a refinance program specifically designed to help people who were negatively impacted by the Great Recession. It is rate & term only - so no cash out allowed. The loan must be owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and it must have been sold to one of those two entities prior to May 31, 2009 by the originating lender. The benefit is that it has some easier qualifying guidelines for those who got in a little over their heads back during that time period.