MAX CLTV FHA
Is there a max CLTV on an FHA refinance? Let’s settle this dispute right here and now with Mortgagee Letter 2005-43 dated October 31, 2005 with states:
“Subordinate financing may remain in place, but subordinate to the FHA insured first mortgage, regardless of the total indebtedness or combined loan-to-value ratio, provided the homeowner qualifies for making scheduled payments on all liens.”
Clearly there is no CLTV limit. I hope this helps some borrowers refinance into the FHA low rate first mortgage. Now, getting the second mortgage to subordinate will be a subject of a future article. One mortgage battle at a time around here.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
[…] Primarily the problem with the FHASecure program is twofold: (1) The program served a very narrow segment of the market in that the borrower must be delinquent as a result of the interest rate reset. (2) The second problem had to do with the LTV issues with second mortgages subordinating. Or shall I say unwilling and uncooperative second mortgages refusing to subordinate. The first problem may have been cured with a recent change in the FHASecure program. Specifically, the program allows the following: >>Borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages who were late on two consecutive monthly mortgage payments or at two different times over the previous twelve months. FHA will require a 97 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for these borrowers to refinance, the same LTV as FHA’s current standard. >>Borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages who were late on three consecutive monthly mortgage payments or at three different times over the past 12 months. FHA will require a 90 percent LTV ratio for these borrowers to refinance. Now, regarding the second mortgage subordination issue, I have this to say. Better yet, let’s take a quote from Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Marh 4, 2008 at the Independent Community Bankers of America Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida “In my view, we could also reduce preventable foreclosures if investors acting in their own self interests were to permit servicers to write down the mortgage liabilities of borrowers by accepting a short payoff in appropriate circumstances. For example, servicers could accept a principal writedown by an amount at least sufficient to allow the borrower to refinance into a new loan from another source. A writedown that is sufficient to make borrowers eligible for a new loan would remove the downside risk to investors of additional writedowns or a re-default.” I smell principal writedowns to accommodate FHASecure refinances. Can you? Let’s hope it’s not another on of Aesop’s Fables. […]