The Hafa program is being released soon and I was notified of some recent changes to the program. Take a look and see how they may affect you. Please don’t hesitate to call with questions.
I thank Front Line Real Estate Schools for this update:
Just one week before the implementation deadline for the new HAFA Program, the Treasury Department issued revised HAFA short sale guidelines. (Well at least they didn’t wait until the last minute). The document is called “Supplemental Directive 09-09 Revised” and it could change the ballgame by making HAFA successful. Apparently, the Treasury Department had been listening to all the complaints about the HAFA program as it was proposed in the original guidelines that were published on November 30, 2009.
People who read the initial HAFA guidelines found several serious problems with them. First and foremost was the inadequate incentives in the program. It was pretty easy to predict that requiring junior lienholders to accept no more than $3,000 or 3% of the amount of their lien, whichever was less in exchange for a full deficiency release wasn’t going to fly and would result in the failure of most HAFA short sales with junior liens.
What the treasury has done in the revised HAFA guidelines is double every incentive in the program. Borrowers can now receive $3,000 in relocation assistance, and junior lienholders can receive $6,000 or 6%, whichever is less. That just might be enough to bring the junior lienholders into the program. Obtaining mandatory deficieny releases for borrowers from the junior lienholders will make the HAFA program very enticing for qualifying borrowers.
There are other changes as well that may make the program easier to qualify for. For example their is now a limited exception to the occupancy requirement and additional financial documents from the borrower that can be considered by the servicer among the changes.
480-652-2004