A critical part of Fannie Mae's role in the Making Home Affordable^SM Program is Home Affordable Refinance, available for refinances of existing Fannie Mae loans only. The goal of the refinance effort, as announced by the President, is "to provide access to low-cost refinancing for responsible homeowners suffering from falling home prices." The expectation is that refinancing a Fannie Mae loan will put responsible borrowers in a better position by reducing their monthly principal and interest payments or moving them from a more risky loan structure (such as interest-only or short-term ARM) to a more stable product. Our solutions provide mortgage refinances for current LTVs up to 125 percent, and mortgage insurance flexibilities.

Fannie Mae provides two Refi Plus™ options to provide Fannie Mae to Fannie Mae refinance solutions to eligible borrowers:

1. Refi Plus for manual underwriting


Refi Plus simplifies the process of refinancing loans that are already in a lender's servicing portfolio. This product supports a 125 percent maximum LTV and mortgage insurance flexibilities for LTVs over 80 percent.


2. DU Refi Plus™ for loans underwritten through Desktop Underwriter® (DU®)


DU Refi Plus provides increased efficiencies for the origination and underwriting of Fannie Mae to Fannie Mae limited cash-out refinance transactions in DU up to 125 percent LTV (effective with the DU Version 7.1 September Update, weekend of 9/19/09). Eligible loans identified in DU receive increased underwriting flexibilities, including expanded eligibility criteria and DU minimum documentation requirements.