Before the Home Affordable Refinance Program expires at the end of 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is launching a major social media campaign to try and pull in the remaining 367,600 people still eligible.
According to the FHFA, those eligible could still save up to $2,400 per year through HARP.
As a result, the FHFA announced a 10-day social media campaign using the hashtag #HARPNow to get the word out that HARP expires in December.
The campaign will focus its outreach efforts on the top 10 states with the highest numbers of “in-the-money” borrowers that remain eligible for a HARP refinance: Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland.
So far, the number of HARP refinances through the fourth quarter totaled 3,380,558 since the inception of the program in 2009, the FHFA’s latest refinance report said.
In January, Fannie Mae announced it reached a major milestone in its mortgage relief efforts, announcing that it has helped more than 2 million American households save money, reduce their interest rates, movie into stable loans or shorten their loan terms by refinancing their mortgages under HARP.
“The 2 million-household milestone is one we’re proud of at Fannie Mae, but our work is not done. Homeowners who have loans from before 2009 and haven’t refinanced should contact a lender immediately to determine their options,” Andrew Bon Salle, executive vice president, single-family business with Fannie Mae, said at the time.
HARP and the Making Home Affordable Program have both received a lot of back and forth talk on when they would expire.
Originally, HAMP and HARP were launched in 2009 to provide relief to borrowers by lowering their monthly payments and were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2013.
Follow the FHFA’s Twitter account for more:
FHFA kicks off #HARPNow social media campaign – HARP expires in December. More: https://t.co/PpbDa6Pq7z RT pic.twitter.com/a1fHwPZzKg
— FHFA (@FHFA) February 17, 2016
Photo credit: GongTo / Shutterstock.com
[Correction: A previous version of the article said the FHFA reached a major milestone, announcing that it has helped more than 2 million people through HARP. It is now updated to say Fannie Mae.]
