February 24, 2016
Do you want to refinance your home loan into an FHA mortgage or refinance an existing FHA mortgage? There are many different types of refinancing options and when HUD 4000.1, the new single family FHA loan rulebook was published in 2015 the entire refinance loan program rules were included in the new volume. That means some policies were updated, some were changed or modified, and some were simply restated.
HUD 4000.1 has a comprehensive list of the different types of FHA refinancing options open to those with single-family mortgages. Let’s examine them:
FHA Cash-Out Refinancing
A Cash-Out Refinance is described in HUD 4000.1 as, “a refinance of any Mortgage or a withdrawal of equity where no Mortgage currently exists, in which the mortgage proceeds are not limited” to specific purposes. The proceeds can be used for any purpose acceptable to the lender.
No Cash-Out
The FHA No Cash-Out Refinance is “a refinance of any Mortgage in which the mortgage proceeds are limited to the purpose of extinguishing the existing debt and costs associated with the transaction.” Participating FHA lenders may offer up to three types of no cash-out refinances including Rate and Term, Simple Refinance, and Streamline Refinancing:
FHA Rate And Term Refinancing
Rate and Term refers to a no cash-out refinance of any Mortgage in which all proceeds are used to pay existing mortgage liens on the subject Property and costs associated with the transaction.
FHA Simple Refinance
Simple Refinancing is basically a no cash-out refinance of an existing FHA-insured Mortgage in which “all proceeds are used to pay the existing FHA-insured mortgage lien on the subject Property” plus costs associated with the transaction.
FHA Streamline Refinancing
Streamline Refinance refers to the refinance of an existing FHA-insured Mortgage requiring limited Borrower credit documentation and underwriting. There are two different streamline options available–one is a credit qualifying FHA Streamline, where the lender is required to “perform a credit and capacity analysis of the Borrower, but no appraisal is required”. The other is non-credit qualifying, where the lender “does not need to perform credit or capacity analysis or obtain an appraisal”.
There are other types of FHA refinancing loans in addition to the ones mentioned above. They include:
FHA Refinance of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions (FHA Short Refinance)
A Borrower who is current on a non-FHA-insured Mortgage may qualify for an FHA-insured refinance Mortgage provided that the Mortgagee or Investor writes off at least 10 percent of the unpaid principal balance of the existing first lien Mortgage. (See Refinance of Borrowers in Negative Equity Positions Program (Short Refi).
Refinances for the Purpose of Rehabilitation or Repair
Borrowers are allowed to refinance existing debts and obtain additional financing for purposes of rehabilitation and repair. Refer to 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program for guidelines for refinances under FHAs Section 203(k) program” according to HUD 4000.1.
Refinancing of an Existing Section 235 Mortgage
An existing Section 235 Mortgage may be refinanced, according to HUD 4000.1, as “any no cash-out refinance”. The new rules add, “In refinancing a Section 235 Mortgage, the Mortgagee is required to repay to FHA any amount of excess subsidy. The outstanding principal balance on a Section 235 is calculated by adding back to the balance any amount of the excess subsidy paid to FHA. If FHA has a junior lien that was part of the original Section 235 financing, FHA will subordinate the junior lien to the Section 203(b) Mortgage that refinances the Section 235 Mortgage.” This type of loan may depend on the availability of a participating lender willing to offer such terms and conditions.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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