New HAFA Guidelines Effective Feb. 1, 2011
Since its inception, however, only 661 HAFA short sales have been completed nationwide – a fraction of the number the Treasury Department and the Obama Administration had hoped for.
Effective February 1, 2011, the federal HAFA short sale guidelines will be amended in an effort to include more borrowers in the HAFA program and therefore reduce the number of homes in the United States that will go to foreclosure.
HAFA or Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program is a joint government & lender program which allocates both a $3,000 incentive for borrowers who complete a successful short sale, as well as up to $6,000 to go to the 2nd lien holder in the short sale. It also specifies that the 2nd lender will not pursue a deficiency against the borrower.
The primary change in the HAFA program is the elimination of the debt to income hardship requirement for borrowers. Previously, in order to qualify for a HAFA short sale, the mortgage payment on the first mortgage had to exceed 31% of the seller’s gross monthly income.
This financial hardship requirement has now been removed, so sellers who wish to do a HAFA short sale will no longer need to meet any arbitrary income or financial hardship ratio, which should dramatically broaden the spectrum of borrowers who will qualify for the HAFA short sale program.
