How to Streamline Home Refinancing
A mortgage streamline is a refinance process that involves far less paperwork and time to complete. Official streamlining is only available on mortgages that are already insured by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the Housing of Urban Development's lending arm of the government. Lenders also can reduce closing costs by including them in the new mortgage amount. A streamline mortgage is relatively easy to complete, as long as your mortgage meets the minimum eligibility requirements.
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Instructions
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Make sure your existing mortgage is insured by the FHA (Federal Housing Authority). This will normally be evident on the paperwork from your mortgage closing. However, if you cannot find the FHA's stamp, contact your lender and ask if your loan is FHA-insured.
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Ensure your loan meets the other requirements for streamlining. First, your mortgage must not be delinquent (30 days overdue). Next, the purpose of the streamline must be only to reduce your principal and interest payments. Last, you must not be taking any cash out of the proceeds of the refinance.
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Call your original lender and apply for a streamline refinance. This will normally incur a standard credit check--which will determine if you qualify for a lower rate--but not an analysis of income or home value.
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Contact your lender again to see if you qualify for a streamline. In most cases, this simply means that you qualify for a lower rate and payment. If you do, you can often sign the streamline refinance loan within a week of your application.
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Call your original lender, even if your loan is not FHA-insured. Some lenders have proprietary "streamline" programs that are similar to the FHA variety.
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