Citi Harp 2.0 Offer Rejected Due to Non-Citi Second Mortage

[rambo]

I received an unsolicited offer in the mail claiming I have been "Pre-Approved" from CitiMortgage to refinance my underwater mortgage as part of the Harp 2.0 Program. As others have already mentioned, Citi offered me a 30 yr fixed rate @4.75%. Unfortunately, I was rejected because I have a second Mortgage serviced by a non-citi lender called Green Tree. Here is my situation

Primary Mortgage through CitiMortgage: 178,000 Fixed Rate @5.875% 30 yrs
Second Mortgage through Green Tree: 43,000 Fixed Rate @ 8.75% 20 yrs

Estimated Home Value: $180,000 - This put me about 41,000 underwater

Does anyone know if CitiMortage can use Harp 2.0 to help me on the second mortgage? Any other suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!!

[Evan Bedard]

Welcome and thanks for joining the community.

I would suggest taking a look at the two threads below. Some servicers are mailing their customers pre-approvals for the HARP 2 program, but really the program will not be fully implemented until March 17th..

http://www.loansafe.org/forum/refina...r-options.html

Who has successfully refinanced under HARP 2.0?

[SandyD]

This is really interesting. Yesterday I received an unsoliticited offer from Citi for a "HARP Streamlined Refi" with no closing costs and at an attractive rate. I should mention now that we are fortunate enough to be neither underwater nor behind on payments.

On the FAQ sheet included with the offer it disclosed that if there was a 2nd or line of credit with another lender other than Citi, that lender would have to agree to "subordinate". I contacted the holder of the line of credit (USAA) who said this would be no problem, so I contacted Citi to investigate the details of their offer (which is only good for one week - typical "slam" type sales tactic). After spending a substantial amount of time being "pre-screened" I was sent to their "Mortgage Specialist" who, during the application process, informed me that since we have a non-Citi lilne of credit, we don't qualify after all, they then forwarded me to another "Mortgage Specialist" who offered us a conventional refi with full closing costs.

Can you say "Bait and Switch"?

I then called Citi customer service and told them I didn't appreciate receiving a fraudulent, misleading offer. The CSR claimed that they had only found out 1 day before, that Fannie Mae would not permit them to write new loans for properties that had a non-Citi 2nd.

Sounds to me like this has been going on for a while.

Can anyone explain why Citi would be able to write new loans on properties with a 2nd from Citi but not with a 2nd some someone else?

Welcome and thanks for joining the community.

I would suggest taking a look at the two threads below. Some servicers are mailing their customers pre-approvals for the HARP 2 program, but really the program will not be fully implemented until March 17th..

http://www.loansafe.org/forum/refina...r-options.html

Who has successfully refinanced under HARP 2.0?

[SandyD]

Did a little more research and now I'm even more suspicious. According to everything I have seen, my LTV must be above 80% to qualify for HARP. By this measure, we do not qualify for the program.

This is not indicated as an eligibility requirement on the offer documents that Citi sent me, nor was it something the "pre-screener" asked before sending me on to the application department.

Does Citi get HARP funding to promote the program? If so, is Citi using government funds to promote the program to those who do not qualify, in order to get new conventional refi leads? I've seen so many Citi horror stories online I'm beginning to wonder .....

[Evan Bedard]

Did a little more research and now I'm even more suspicious. According to everything I have seen, my LTV must be above 80% to qualify for HARP. By this measure, we do not qualify for the program.

This is not indicated as an eligibility requirement on the offer documents that Citi sent me, nor was it something the "pre-screener" asked before sending me on to the application department.

Does Citi get HARP funding to promote the program? If so, is Citi using government funds to promote the program to those who do not qualify, in order to get new conventional refi leads? I've seen so many Citi horror stories online I'm beginning to wonder .....

Unfortunately, having an LTV above 80% is one of the main requirements for HARP


Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)

In general, borrowers must meet the following criteria:

The mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
The mortgage cannot have been refinanced under HARP previously unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP from March-May, 2009.
The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than 80%.
The borrower must be current on the mortgage at the time of the refinance, with no late payment in the past six months and no more than one late payment in the past 12 months.

[SandyD]

Unfortunately, having an LTV above 80% is one of the main requirements for HARP

Exactly my point, the offer includes a LONG list of eligibility requirements, and > 80% LTV is not in the list.
Therefore I can only conclude that Citi wanted to make sure I called them to accept this "offer", so they could have an opportunity to sell me a conventional refi. They were also fully aware that this loan was originated in 1995 - what are the chances that my LTV was > 80%? I can only conclude that Citi is using funds intended to promote HARP, as a marketing strategy to acquire leads for conventional refis (bringing loans sold to Fannie & Freddie back in house).

[Evan Bedard]

Exactly my point, the offer includes a LONG list of eligibility requirements, and > 80% LTV is not in the list.
Therefore I can only conclude that Citi wanted to make sure I called them to accept this "offer", so they could have an opportunity to sell me a conventional refi. They were also fully aware that this loan was originated in 1995 - what are the chances that my LTV was > 80%? I can only conclude that Citi is using funds intended to promote HARP, as a marketing strategy to acquire leads for conventional refis (bringing loans sold to Fannie & Freddie back in house).

Here try writing to a member by the name of Erik Sandstrom, he has been doing HARP refis since the program was first established and knows all the ins and outs of the program..

HARP Most Commonly Asked Questions - Answered!

[rambo]

This is really interesting. Yesterday I received an unsoliticited offer from Citi for a "HARP Streamlined Refi" with no closing costs and at an attractive rate. I should mention now that we are fortunate enough to be neither underwater nor behind on payments.

On the FAQ sheet included with the offer it disclosed that if there was a 2nd or line of credit with another lender other than Citi, that lender would have to agree to "subordinate". I contacted the holder of the line of credit (USAA) who said this would be no problem, so I contacted Citi to investigate the details of their offer (which is only good for one week - typical "slam" type sales tactic). After spending a substantial amount of time being "pre-screened" I was sent to their "Mortgage Specialist" who, during the application process, informed me that since we have a non-Citi lilne of credit, we don't qualify after all, they then forwarded me to another "Mortgage Specialist" who offered us a conventional refi with full closing costs.

Can you say "Bait and Switch"?

I then called Citi customer service and told them I didn't appreciate receiving a fraudulent, misleading offer. The CSR claimed that they had only found out 1 day before, that Fannie Mae would not permit them to write new loans for properties that had a non-Citi 2nd.

Sounds to me like this has been going on for a while.

Can anyone explain why Citi would be able to write new loans on properties with a 2nd from Citi but not with a 2nd some someone else?

Sorry for the late update to this thread I started. Even though I did not qualify for the Harp 2.0 program due to non-Citi second, they offered me another option to refinance, which I just recently completed after 4 months of paperwork going back and forth. The program was not free as I paid about $300 in closing costs, but I ended up with a 4.2% refi for 20 years. All in all I am happy with how this turned out - Now I have to work on my second with GT - been seriously considering the strategy for settling but have not built up the courage to stop paying.

[Cat Damiano]

Sorry for the late update to this thread I started. Even though I did not qualify for the Harp 2.0 program due to non-Citi second, they offered me another option to refinance, which I just recently completed after 4 months of paperwork going back and forth. The program was not free as I paid about $300 in closing costs, but I ended up with a 4.2% refi for 20 years. All in all I am happy with how this turned out - Now I have to work on my second with GT - been seriously considering the strategy for settling but have not built up the courage to stop paying.

Thank you for the update, that is great news that you were provided with an alternative to refinance the property. Congratulations!