Is a Home Affordable Refinance right for me?
Program goal
The goal of the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program is to help make monthly mortgage payments more affordable for customers who may not have sufficient equity in their home to qualify for traditional refinancing.
Eligibility
You may be eligible for refinancing your home loan under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), if:
your home loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
How do I know?To find out if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, simply call the toll-free numbers below or use their online lookup tools.
Fannie Mae:
1.800.7FANNIE (8am to 8pm ET) www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup Opens a new window
Freddie Mac:
1.800.FREDDIE (8am to 8pm ET) www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage Opens a new window
your loan was sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before June 1, 2009
you are current on your mortgage payments
within the past twelve months, you have been more than 30 days late with your payment only once
within the six months immediately before you apply for your refinance, you have not been 30 days or more late with your payment
Other options may still be available. If you cannot afford your monthly mortgage payments due to a financial hardship, you may qualify for a loan modification under the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program.
Program at a glance
Call and update us on your current financial situation. We will begin to review your information, check your eligibility and help you complete an application. We will send you a welcome package containing important information about refinancing your loan and the costs involved.
We may order an appraisal of your home and pull a credit report to verify your financial information. We will contact you throughout the process to keep you up to date on the status of your application. It is important that you submit any documents that we request as soon as possible to avoid any delays.
Evaluating your application may take approximately 75 days from your initial call. Once a decision has been reached, you will receive a letter informing you of the final decision. If approved, you will receive a call from us to schedule the closing of the loan.
You will go through a closing process similar to when you first purchased your home. You will sign the closing documents and be required to pay the closing costs at this time, unless some or all of your closing costs can be financed into the loan amount.
Get more details on the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
The summary is provided as a convenience, does not serve as a substitute for a borrower's actual loan documents, and is not a commitment to lend. Borrowers should become fully informed by reviewing all of the loan and disclosure documentation provided.
Refinancing may increase the total number of monthly payments and/or the total amount paid when compared to your current situation.
Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.
How do I get started with a Home Affordable Refinance?
Getting started with a Home Affordable Refinance begins with a phone call. We will be able to take your financial information over the phone and fill out an application with you.
Collect your financial information
Before you call, you should first gather a set of documents that contain the information we will need for everyone listed on your home loan. So, you will need to collect your most recent:
pay stubs, or, if self-employed, quarterly or year-to-date profit/loss statement
bank statements for all checking and savings accounts
tax return
Let us help you
Call us today at:
1.800.669.6607
7am-7pm local time
Call Information Sheet Opens a New Window.
To help you keep track of important deadlines and take notes during the call, please print out this form prior to calling.
Now that I am in the process, what is next?
If you are already in the process of refinancing your loan through the federal government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program, we can help you understand what you need to do next.
I have called and submitted my information.
Once you have called and updated us on your financial status, we will begin to review and verify your information. This will include pulling a copy of your credit report.
Also, we will need to determine the current value of your home. To do this, it may be necessary to order an appraisal.
I have submitted my financial information and am awaiting approval.
Evaluating your application may take approximately 75 days. We will contact you during this time to update you on your status.
We may also contact you if further documentation is needed to determine your eligibility. To avoid delays, it is important that you get us these documents as soon as possible.
When you apply for a refinance at Bank of America, you will receive a Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement containing your new interest rate, mortgage payment and the amount you will pay over the life of the loan. Our Clarity Commitment® document, a one-page summary of key loan terms written in plain language, is designed to help you better understand what you are getting.
Together with your mortgage loan officer, you can compare the Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement and Clarity Commitment® to your current loan. If the proposed new payment is not an improvement, the Home Affordable Refinance Program may not be right for you and you are under no obligation to continue.
But you might want to consider the possible advantages of refinancing from an adjustable rate loan to a fixed rate loan, or eliminating higher risk loan terms such as interest-only payments or balloon payments. This may help provide you with more long term stability. It is important to know that even though refinancing may lower your monthly payment, it resets the terms of your loan and therefore may increase the total number of monthly payments and interest charges you pay over the life of your loan (shown on the Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement) when compared to your current situation.
Other options may still be available. If you cannot afford your monthly mortgage payments due to a financial hardship, you may qualify for a loan modification under the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program.
I have received a letter regarding my eligibility.
If approved, you will receive a phone call from us to schedule the signing of the new loan papers, otherwise known as a closing.
It is important that you continue to make your normal home loan payments until you sign the loan documents and your refinance takes effect.
I have scheduled a closing for my refinance under the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
Just like when you first bought your home, you will go through the closing process before your refinancing becomes effective. At the closing, you will need to sign a full set of loan documents and pay for closing costs, unless all or some of them were financed into the loan amount.
Home Loan Assistance Frequently Asked Questions
If you are current on your mortgage and you are unable to find a lower interest rate because your home’s value has decreased, you may be able to refinance under the Home Affordable Refinance Program. The Home Affordable Refinance Program allows homeowners from qualifying lenders to apply for refinancing their home even if the loan amount exceeds the current value of the home. That value is based on the recent sales of other houses close in size and similar to the quality of the neighborhood.
When you apply for a refinance at Bank of America, you will receive a Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement containing your new interest rate, mortgage payment and the amount you will pay over the life of the loan. Our Clarity Commitment® document, a one-page summary of key loan terms written in plain language, is designed to help you better understand what you are getting.
Together with your mortgage loan officer, you can compare the Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement and Clarity Commitment® to your current loan. If the proposed new payment is not an improvement, the Home Affordable Refinance Program may not be right for you and you are under no obligation to continue.
But you might want to consider the possible advantages of refinancing from an adjustable rate loan to a fixed rate loan, or eliminating higher risk loan terms such as interest-only payments or balloon payments. This may help provide you with more long term stability. It is important to know that when refinancing lowers your monthly payments, it may increase the total number of monthly payments and/or the Total of Payments (shown on the Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement) when compared to your current situation.
Yes. If you do not have enough equity in your home to qualify for traditional refinancing, you may be eligible for this program. The current market value of your home will be determined after you apply.
You may still be eligible to refinance under the Home Affordable Refinance Program. A refinance will depend on your home equity lender agreeing to remain the second lender and on your ability to make the new payments.
If you were denied home loan assistance, such as a request for a loan modification, short sale or deed in lieu you may be able to dispute the decision. You can file an escalated case with us if you have reason to believe any of the following are true:
- you met all the criteria for home loan assistance but were not properly evaluated for assistance or were improperly denied assistance. This may include:
- you did not receive adequate notice from us about your foreclosure alternatives
- you were not given appropriate time to respond to communications from us during your loan review process
- your loan was referred to foreclosure prematurely, or we did not suspend foreclosure activities when we were required to do so
You can also file an escalated case if either of these two specific concerns apply to your loan:
- you have a reasonable belief that your mortgage loan is being serviced in a fraudulent manner
- you have retained a lawyer to help you resolve a mortgage dispute with Bank of America
If you have reason to believe that any of the above apply in connection with your loan review and affected your eligibility for home loan assistance, you may file an escalated case with us to review your concerns.
Please note that inquiries about a pending request for home loan assistance or general questions about the servicing of your mortgage do not meet the requirements for an escalated case. For general servicing questions, please call 1.800.669.6607 (Monday-Friday, 7am-7pm local time).
To file an escalated case, you or any third party representing you, such as a housing counselor or attorney, should send us a brief letter describing the specific reasons you believe one of the above scenarios applies to your loan or to your application for home loan assistance. If you are represented by an attorney, please have your lawyer submit this request on your behalf.
Escalated case requests must be sent by mail to the following address:
- Bank of America Corporate Center
Attn: BAC Escalated Case Unit
P.O. Box 940508
Simi Valley, CA 93094-0508
Please note that if a third party, such as an advisor or a nonprofit advocate, contacts us to submit an escalated case on your behalf, we must have your written authorization before we can communicate with them about you or your loan. Without your written authorization, we will not be able to discuss your home loan with them. We can provide you with an authorization form upon request.
What to expect after submitting your request
Within three business days after receipt:
- If your submission meets the requirements for an escalated case, within three business days of the receipt of your request, we will send you a written acknowledgement that we have received your request. This acknowledgement will also include the estimated date by which your escalated case should be resolved, along with a toll-free number for the Escalated Case Unit.
Within 15 calendar days after receipt:
- In most cases, within 15 calendar days of receiving your request, we will mail you a written response describing the proposed resolution of your request and any next steps to be followed by you or by us. If your matter cannot be resolved within 15 calendar days, we will notify you of the delay and give you a new estimated resolution date. This new estimated resolution date, in most cases, will be no longer than 30 calendar days from the date we received your original escalated case.
Checking the status of your escalated case
Your written confirmation will include a toll-free number you can call for information about your escalated case.
