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U.S. Treasury and HUD announce housing grants funded through Recovery Act

May 04, 2009

Lenders One member Dubuque Bank and Trust sells first home affordable refinance loan to Fannie Mae MortgagePress.comLenders One Mortgage Cooperative, Refi Plus, Dubuque Bank and Trust, Heartland Financial USA Inc., Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative, a national alliance of mortgage bankers, announced that one of its members became the first institution in the country to sell a Refi Plus loan to Fannie Mae. Iowa-based Dubuque Bank and Trust (DB and T), a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA Inc., is using the program to help borrowers remain in their homes by reducing their monthly payments and/or refinancing into a fixed-rate loan product. "As part of recent initiatives to help alleviate foreclosures, the Refi Plus program allows lenders to expand their refinance opportunities and preserve homeownership at a greater rate. This is both an outstanding achievement and a great civic-minded act," said Scott Stern, Lenders One CEO. Management at DB and T appreciates the benefits of the Refi Plus program, which allow financial institutions to better retain mortgage customers through an effective, quick refinance option. "The Refi Plus program allows more efficient, cost-effective refinancing for borrowers," Tom Goric, vice president at Dubuque Bank and Trust, explained. "Loans are delivered faster and at lower cost, as the new guidelines broaden the scope of who can be helped in today's harsh economic climate." Anticipating the availability of Refi Plus, DB and T waited for the program's launch to deliver a specific loan, knowing that it would qualify. Refi Plus is new under President Obama's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, which is designed to streamline the refinance process of existing Fannie Mae-funded mortgage loans. The goal is to extend the option of refinancing to more struggling homeowners. To achieve this, Fannie Mae has loosened refinance requirements, such as lowering the acceptable credit score, reducing documentation of income and in some cases waiving the requirement of an appraisal. For more information, visit www.lendersone.com or www.dubuquebank.com/.
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May 04, 2009
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