When will Citimortgage allow the 125% refinance?

[DaveG]

So... last week Obama announced the new program that will assist borrowers with homes worth up to 125% of the current market value.

If my home hasn't dropped more than 20k in value since my appraisal at the beginning of April, I would fall within the 125% and be eligible to refinance.

I called Citimortgage to ask about this and they say that the rules are still 105%, they can only offer what is listed on the Fannie May website But Fannie May DOES list 125%. Ugh.

A couple questions:
1. Does anyone know when Citimortgage's MHA refinance department will adopt the 125% number?

2. How long is an appraisal good for? I paid $350 for an appraisal with a different mortgage company at the beginning of April (when I ended up not being within 105%). I'd prefer to not have to pay for another appraisal. Would this one still be considered 'good,' and is there any way I can talk Citimortgage into accepting a 3rd party appraisal?

Thanks,
Dave

[CERA219]

The guy I got at citi told me the new 125% l-t-v should be adopted any day and encouraged me to shoot him an email daily to find out. Once it happened, we would go forward with the appraisal (which I hope to make by the skin of my teeth!)

As far as the appraisal...I can almost garuantee they will require you to pay for another one with one of their people (unless your appraiser is one of the ones they use). Even then, they may still require it just to make sure there hasn't been a major shift in home prices within the last several months.

I'll post here if I find out anything...

[nikandmom]

Just wondering if anyone has more info on when citimortgage will start allowing the 125% refinance. this program has been in place for a while now so I don't see why it's taking them so long to start using it.

[CERA219]

I received another email from my rep from Citi today...no go as of yet.

After spending way to much time googling about this...I came up with this interesting article:

Fannie Mae Implementing New Loan-to-Value Ceiling for Home Affordable Refinance Program | LoanWorkout.org

If this is legit, it looks like the refi's won't be happening until Sept 1. Additionally, Fannie/Freddie are going to offer a .50 rate reduction if you opt for 20 or 25 year term.

Interesting.