The Real Estate Blog

The Short Payoff Refinance

by The Rozansky Team

jon@rozanskyteam.com (619) 392-1234

Finally!!! You can do a Short Payoff Refinance loan with our standard FHA Loan Programs.

Yes we are doing them and lenders are approving the refinance! They want you to stay in your home!

Ask to see our most recent Short Pay Refinance & Principle Reduction approval!

Although the "Short Sale" has become a well known solution for borrowers to avoid foreclosure by selling their home for less than what is owe, the “Short Payoff Refinance” (Short-Pay Refi) is becoming a popular tool for borrowers to retain their home, lower their principle balance and most importantly; lower your monthly payment with a fixed rate FHA insured loan.

~~~What’s a Short-Payoff Refinance?

This process is similar to a short sale but, instead of the property being sold, it is refinanced with the same or a new lender. A Short-Pay Refi is unique in that it allows the borrowers to keep their home, lower their payments and eliminate the upside down equity in their homes by reducing their principal balance (principle reduction).

The transaction itself is a basically a three part process. Negotiations are done by us the broker in conjunction with the borrower and the lien holder. First we need to establish the actual current value of the home. Next, we run the FHA approval on you at the maximum loan to value for that new value and issue an approval. Now, armed with our comps at current market value and our approval, WE enter into equity re-negotiations with the bank/loan servicer for a discount on the current mortgage. Once the bank/loan servicer accepts the offer presented, we can complete the new loan transaction.

THIS IS NOT THE H.O.P.E FOR HOME OWNERS PROGRAM AND DOES NOT CARRY ANY OF THOSE RESTRICTIONS**

~~~Who should get a Short-Payoff Refinance?

For those borrowers that still have decent credit, ficos, income and no mortgage late but due to a decline in the value of their home (owing more than it’s worth), a Short-Pay Refi is the perfect solution. This allows the borrowers to put the brakes on before everything gets away from them and spins out of control. After the transaction is complete and the lien holder is paid off, it’s up to that lien holder as to how they are going to rate the paid-off mortgage to the credit bureaus. Depending on the lender, it may be filed as: Paid In Full, Settled, Charged-off, Paid for Less than Balance, etc.

~~~Why would the bank/loan servicer agree to a Short-Payoff Refinance and not just foreclose on the property?

Banks/Loan Servicers’ books are becoming swamped with REO’s, so now they’re more open to negotiations than ever. Remember, foreclosing on a property requires large amounts of legal fees and then the home is typically sold at a substantial discount off of the fair market value by the bank. The Short-Payoff Refinance allows the loan servicer to avoid a majority of the legal fees and lets the new lender make its largest loan based on the fair market value. In most cases, a Loan Modification can’t solve the problem as many loan servicers are not lenders; a Short-Pay Refi becomes a very powerful alternative. Short-Payoff Refinances put borrowers in better positions than standard loan modifications because aside from lowering the payment, they also lower the principle balance with an FHA insured loan.

CA DRE # 01807122