Newrez is pleased to announce the release of Fannie Mae’s RefiNow Option. RefiNow offers expanded eligibility to benefit low-income borrowers to take advantage of the low interest rate environment.
Eligibility
- Fannie Mae must own the existing mortgage being refinanced
- Single-family residences
- Primary residence
- Borrower’s current income must be less than or equal to 80% of the area median income (AMI) for the subject property
- Existing loan must be at least 12-months old but not more than 120 months old from the original note date to the new note date
- Housing payment history for existing mortgage
- No late payments in the most recent six months; and
- No more than one late payment in months 7 to 12
- Maximum 97% LTV/CLTV
- Debt to income ratio up to 65%
- Minimum 620 credit score
- Borrower must receive the following benefits with the refinance
- Monthly payment must be reduced by at least $50.00
- Interest rate must be reduced by at least .50%
- Cash back to the borrower not to exceed $250
- Financed closing costs, prepaid items, and points not to exceed $5,000
- A $500 appraisal credit will be provided, at closing, if an appraisal is obtained
- DU Approve/Eligible required. Manually underwritten loans not permitted
- DU will evaluate all eligible limited cash-out refinance (LCOR) loans for the RefiNow program and will issue a message that the loan casefile was underwritten according to RefiNow
- A project review is not required for condo, co-ops, and PUD projects with the following exceptions
- Confirm that the project is not a condo or co-op hotel, or motel, houseboat, timeshare, or segmented ownership project
- Confirm the appropriate property and flood insurance
- Standard Mortgage Insurance coverage is required on all loans with an LTV greater than 80%.
- Borrower Paid Monthly MI only
Resources
Fannie Mae RefiNow product profile located in the Credit Policy & Product Development NewRez Lending Library
RefiNow training is available in the Hive for all Loan Officers and MLCs
Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2021-10 Introduction of the RefiNow Option
Desktop Underwriter/Desktop Originator Release Notes DU Version 11.0 June Update