RefiNow and Refi Possible

Fannie Mae's RefiNow program is available to low to moderate homeowners who wish to refinance their current mortgage.

To qualify for the RefiNow option, homeowners must have:

A mortgage that is owned by Fannie Mae, use the loan look up tool to verify ownership.

RefiNow Income Limits

The current income must be at or below 80% of the area median income (not the income as of origination of the original loan); you can verify the area income with the income look up tool.

Applicants are not permitted to miss an on time mortgage payment in the past six months, and no more than one missed mortgage payment in the past 12 months. There are exceptions for missed payments due to a COVID-19 forbearance.

Credit Score

The minimum credit score of 620 is required.

Debt to Income

The debt to income should be 65% or lower. If you are not familiar with the term debt to income, DTI is the ratio between the gross monthly income and monthly debts. For example, let's say you earn $1,000 each month. The new mortgage payment and monthly obligations should be $650 or less (i.e. $1,000 X 65% = $650). Learn more about debt to income.

Appraisal

There must be a minimum of 3% equity (97% loan to value).

Occupancy

One unit owner-occupied only.

Interest Rates

Interest rates are required to be reduced by a minimum of 50 bps (1/2%), and there must be a minimum payment reduction of $50.

Refi Possible

Fannie Mae's competition (Federal Home Loan Corporation) also offers a low to moderate refinance program called Home Possible. The loan criteria are the same as Fannie Mae. Use the Freddie Mac loan lookup tool to see if Freddie Mac own your mortgage.

Refi Possible will be available in August 2021.